Last Sacrifice from Dimitri's Point of View
by Roza-Dimka-Reader
Summary: Basically what the title says! My take on Last Sacrifice from Dimitri's Point of View. It's a little slow in the first few chapters but it'll get better around chapter 3 so please give it a chance :)
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my new story :)**

**It's basically what it says in the summary – Last Sacrifice from Dimitri's point of view. I've read many Vampire Academy's, Frostbites and the others in DPOV but never Last Sacrifice. So here goes! **

**The chapter lengths will depend entirely on the length of the chapters in the book and what happens in them. The first few will naturally be short, given that Dimitri isn't in the first couple a lot in the book.**

**Please let me know what you think, it would really mean a lot :)**

**Chapter 1**

I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to think. Everything had changed.

I was still dealing with the mental torment of my Strigoi days. They haunted me. All the memories. All the death I caused. All the hurt I caused.

There was on memory worse than all.

Rose.

I had hurt her. I had fed from her. I had used her as my own personal blood whore to get what I wanted. I had become my own worst fear.

It was the memories that were still as vivid and clear as though it were yesterday, of her face. Her eyes would light up with excitement when I entered the room she was being kept imprisoned in. Excitement of the next rush of endorphins that I would give her by drinking her blood.

It sickened me.

The tormented thoughts and images entered my head, every minute of every day. Each victim I'd sucked dry, each Moroi life that I had sworn to protect was brought to an end as a sunk my teeth into each of their necks. One after the other, an endless row of meals.

And now Rose was locked up again, being accused of murder. A Royal assassination to be correct.

I knew in my heart, that I would never love again. I would never feel anything other than this heart-wrenching pain and guilt that existed in my entire being. But one thing I couldn't do was sit back and watch Rose being sentenced to death for the murder of Queen Tatiana.

Rose could be lethal when she wanted, I would know. I knew she and Tatiana had a mutual dislike for one another, but I also knew that Rose would never stoop to an act like this, no matter how upset she was about the new law.

Another new feeling I had was anger. Anger at myself, but also at the person who had obviously tried to frame Rose. There was so much evidence against her, from her stake and the handprints on the stake to the fact that Rose had no alibi for where she was the night Her Majesty was killed.

Lissa, my saviour, was desperately trying to get people's attention, to convince them that Rose was innocent. There wasn't any that were listening though. Everyone had already made up their minds that Rose was the one who had done it.

At the moment, however, some of the attention was directed off Rose. The reason being that Her Majesty's funeral was taking place and it was the biggest event that had taken place in Court for centuries.

It was taking place this week, followed by the election of the new King or Queen, which would be followed by Rose's trial, most likely leading to her execution.

I wasn't going to let that happen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Another short chapter - sorry! They will get longer! **

**Sorry if they're a little boring and solemn – but we all know how depressed Dimitri was at this stage :)**

**Thanks for views and reviews!**

**Chapter 2**

I was no longer in jail, but I was still in confinement.

Although, I had come close to being locked up in the cell once again for going on the offensive against several members of the Royal Guard who came to arrest Rose that day in the café.

I didn't care. I felt a certain numbness to what was going on around me. All these preparations and commotion going on here at Court seemed pointless to me. They weren't important. Not when I had a constant reminder of the evil that filled the world…the evil that _I_ had been part of.

Once being set free, I spent most of my time in my room. It wasn't exactly by choice. I was being confined here until everything settled down at Court. My mind was constantly reeling with memories of what I had done. How many innocent people and children I had murder in cold blood. How many families had been affected by the pain of losing a loved one. Pain that _I_ had caused.

My mind started thinking about Rose again.

Why had I jumped in to protect her that day in the café?

Part of my told myself that it was my natural mentor instincts, jumping in to protect my student from harm.

The second part of me was telling myself that it was for Lissa, that by protecting Rose I was protecting Lissa from the hurt she would feel if something happened to her best friend.

A knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts.

"A visitor to see you." One of my guards said to me before opening the door enough to let the Moroi man through.

The man entered and the door closed behind him. Silence enveloped the room.

This was a man I had seen a fair amount of the past few days. This was a man who had a dangerous reputation. This was the man who was defending his only daughter. This man was Abe Mazur.

"Belikov," He greeted me briskly.

"Sir," I replied. He wouldn't be so polite if he had known what I had done to his only daughter a few short months ago.

"I have a proposition for you." He announced.

I didn't say anything. I just listened.

"You are well aware of Rose's situation. I have a plan. I have already let Vasilissa and the others know what I want to do. They have agreed, but it will only work if you agree to do this."

He waited for some sort I reply from me. I said nothing.

"I need to buy Rose some time so that I can try and get some solid evidence that will help clear her name. I need her out of Court. I need you to help me break her out, Belikov."

I wasn't very surprised. This was _Abe Mazur_ after all. He was known for believing in doing the impossible; something his daughter had inherited from him.

Rose.

She didn't deserve to die like this.

I'd help her, to give Lissa and Abe more time.

I'd do this to get away from this awful place. Maybe if I got away from Court, and the Royals.

I'd do this to help Rose get the justice she deserved.

"Alright. Tell me the plan." I answered.

Abe filled me in on his plan, which was that he'd set off a distraction in the middle of the precession at Tatiana's funeral. While this was happening, my guards would be distracted, giving me time to get out of my room and get to the Court's jail cells. Guardian Eddie Castile and Guardian Mikhail Tanner would meet me there and help get Rose out successful.

It sounded like a pretty sound plan.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, it will get more interesting from here on out! :)**

**Chapter 3**

The morning of the funeral, our plan was set into motion.

Abe had come and assured me that the explosions were set up and everything was going as planned.

There were very few people who knew what was going to happen this morning. Only myself, Abe, Lissa, Christian, Eddie and Mikhail. Not even Rose was told.

I waited a little impatiently and watched the procession from my bedroom window. When the statues leading up to the cathedral blew up, I heard the guards outside my room take off and took that as my queue to go.

I burst out of my room, ready to take down any lingering guards.

There was one. But he was currently distracted by the fact that Eddie and Mikhail had burst through the door.

He didn't see me coming behind me. We didn't hang around to take care of his unconscious body or feel any remorse about rendering a fellow guardian unconscious. All that matter to me was getting Rose out of here.

I rushed towards where Rose was being held. I saw Eddie Castile and Mikhail Tanner entering the building ahead of me.

When I reached the door, Eddie and Mikhail were both fighting three guardians a piece. Eddie was closer to me so I joined him and together we took out the three guardians. We turned to Mikhail and saw he had taken one down. Eddie was about to jump in and help him but I stopped him.

"Go. I'll handle these." I said to him. Eddie nodded and both he and Mikhail took off in the direction of Rose's cell. The two guardians made to go after them but I caught them both and threw them on the ground.

It didn't take me long to bring them down and I quickly hurried after Eddie and Mikhail.

When I reached them, they had already freed Rose and were trying to explain what was going on to her. I looked around the room, searching for any guards or threats. I was filled with adrenaline. Filled with the need to get Rose out of this place.

"We used C4," Mikhail explained to her.

"Where on earth did you-" She started but broke off when she saw me in the doorway.

ʺYou're here too? Aren't you under house arrest?ʺ she asked me.

"He escaped," said Eddie slyly. "it's what people would expect some violent probably-still-a-Strigoi guy to do, right?"

Mikhail said something after that but I stopped listening. I was trying hard to keep my Guardian mask and look for danger, but I couldn't help myself from looking at Rose. I needed to make sure she was ok. Physically anyway.

A feeling of relief came to me as I realised that she was, followed quickly by confusion.

Relief? I hadn't realised that I could feel that. I hadn't felt anything but pain and grief since I was turned back.

I mentally slapped myself for hanging around. We didn't have time to stay around and chat.

"Come on. We don't have much time" I said to the three of them.

"There's no way they'll think he did it alone!" Rose exclaimed to Mikhail and Eddie. "They saw your faces!" she gestured to the unconscious guards we had taken down.

I heard a movement behind me and turned quickly, relaxing slightly when I saw it was only Adrian Ivashkov.

"Not really," he said as he entered. "Not after a little spirit-induced amnesia. By the time they wake up the only person they'll remember seeing will be that unstable Russian guy." He turned to me. "No offense."

"None taken." I replied.

A grin slid over Rose's face. I felt something stir in the pit of my stomach.

"Lissa lied to your mom earlier. You're supposed to be passed out drunk somewhere."

"Well, yes, that would probably be the smarter—and more enjoyable—thing to be doing right now. And hopefully, thatʹs what everyone thinks Iʹm doing.ʺ

"We need to go." I cut in before Rose could reply. We didn't have time.

Everyone turned to me at once and I saw serious expressions slide onto all of their faces.

Rose took a few steps forward to leave. Adrian however stopped her before she got very far.

ʺWait—before you go with us, you need to know something." He said to her.

Didn't anyone actually understand that _right now, _guardians had probably realised that I wasn't in my room where I was supposed to be?

I started to protest but Adrian cut me off. .

ʺShe does," he said, glaring at me slightly. I cut see a hint of jealousy in his eyes.

ʺRose, if you escape . . . youʹre more or less confirming your guilt. Youʹll be a fugitive. If the guardians find you, they arenʹt going to need a trial or sentence to kill you on sight.ʺ

His timing wasn't great, but I had to admit, she _did _have to know this. She had to know what position she was going to put herself in.

I already knew what she was going to say of course. No matter what had happened between us, it didn't change the fact that I knew her better than she knew herself.

I could see her processing his words in her head, making sure she would make the right decision.

I knew that she would take the chance of becoming a fugitive, and have a chance of getting caught, rather than wait around in a cell for someone to decide to date and time of her death.

Rose would not take her death lying down. She would die fighting, the way she wanted to. The way we all wanted to. The way _I _wanted to.

I saw the decision in her eyes a second before she spoke.

"Let's go."

Without wasting another second, we took off down the hall and into the main hall. When we got there, I was glad to see that the place was still deserted, meaning that they hadn't realised I had escaped just yet. We kept moving and made our way outdoors.

"Now what?" Rose asked us.

"Now we take you to the getaway car." Eddie answered her and we all took off toward the garages. The court was still in chaos and there were people panicking everywhere after the explosions.

"What's Lissa doing during all of this?" Rose asked us.

ʺLissa needs to stay innocent. She can't be linked to any part of the escape or explosion,ʺ I replied. I was glad she wasn't playing a part in the actual breaking-Rose-out part. I needed to protect and keep her safe. It was the least I could do for her for what she had done for me.

ʺShe has to keep herself visible with the other royals. So does Christian.ʺ I realised that if I had had no idea what was going on and was in the crowd, my first thoughts would go to Lissa and Christian. ʺThose two would certainly be my first suspects if something exploded.ʺ

ʺBut the guardians wonʹt suspect them once they realize the blast wasnʹt caused by magic,ʺ she said. ʺAnd hey, where did you guys get a hold of C4? Military grade explosives are kind of extreme, even for you.ʺ

Even though he was her father, I don't think she had any idea just how much power Abe Mazur had.

Before I could answer her, we were intercepted.

Three guardians stood in front of us.

I ran ahead to take the brunt of the attack, noticing that Rose had done the same.

Two of these guardians worked here at Court, the other, I recognised as an old school friend of Rose's.

I went for the two men, assuming they were the bigger threat. They were older and more experienced after all.

Just as I took down the second guardian, I noticed Rose had rendered the girl unconscious and we all took off faster in the direction of the garage.

As we ran, Eddie tried to comfort Rose. I knew she'd feel bad about taking down fellow guardians – our colleagues. But this girl was someone Rose had known most of her life. She'd trained and sparred with her. But I knew that Rose did what she had to do.

We reached the garage, which was full of frightened people. I led the group the far side of the room, not hesitating. Abe had told exactly where to go and what to do.

I saw Abe standing outside the Honda Civic. Confusion filled me. He'd promised he wouldn't be here.

"Abe!" Rose exclaimed, seeing him.

"What are you doing here? You'll be on the list of suspects too! You were supposed to stay back with the others." I said to him angrily.

Abe just shrugged at me.

ʺVasilisa will make sure a few people at the palace swear they saw me there during suspicious times.ʺ He turned towards Rose. ʺBesides, I couldnʹt leave without telling you goodbye, could I?ʺ

ʺWas this all part of your plan as my lawyer? I donʹt recall explosive escapes being part of legal training.ʺ Rose said to him.

ʺWell, Iʹm sure it wasnʹt part of Damon Tarusʹs legal training.ʺ Abeʹs smile never wavered. ʺI told you, Rose. You will never face execution—or even a trial, if I can help it.ʺ He paused. ʺWhich, of course, I can.ʺ

I took the set of keys out of my pocket and moved around to the driver's door, waiting impatiently for them. There was no way we'd get out of here if we didn't leave soon.

ʺIf I run, itʹs just going to make me seem that much more guilty.ʺ Rose said to her father.

ʺThey already think you're guilty,ʺ said Abe. ʺYou wasting away in that cell won't change that. This just ensures we now have more time to do what we need to without your execution looming over us.ʺ

ʺAnd what are you going to do exactly?ʺ she asked.

ʺProve you're innocent,ʺ Adrian jumped in. ʺOr, well, that you didnʹt kill my aunt. I've known for a while you aren't all that innocent.ʺ

ʺWhat, are you guys going to destroy the evidence?ʺ I asked, ignoring the dig.

ʺNo,ʺ said Eddie. ʺWe have to find who really did kill her.ʺ

ʺYou guys shouldnʹt be involved with that, now that Iʹm free. Itʹs my problem.

Isnʹt that why you got me out?ʺ

ʺItʹs a problem you canʹt solve while youʹre at Court,ʺ said Abe. ʺWe need you gone and safe.ʺ

ʺYeah, but I—ʺ

I couldn't listen to anymore.

ʺWe're wasting time arguing,ʺ I argued, eyeing the area. For all we knew, the unconscious guards would be waking up now, or someone would have found unconscious bodies lying around.

I gave Rose a silver stake to protect herself.

ʺI know everything looks disorganized, but you'll be amazed at how quickly the guardians will restore order. And when they do, they're going to lock this place down.ʺ I said to her.

ʺThey donʹt need to,ʺ she said slowly. I could see the wheels in her head turning. ʺWeʹre already going to have trouble going out of Court. Weʹll be stopped—if we can even get to the gate. There are going to be cars lined up for miles!ʺ

ʺAh, well,ʺ said Abe, which the same mischievous look I often saw on Rose's face back at the academty. ʺI have it on good authority thereʹs going to be a new 'gateʹ opening up soon over on the south side of the wall.ʺ

Realisation hit her. ʺOh lord. Youʹre the one whoʹs been doling out C4.ʺ

ʺYou make it sound so easy,ʺ he said with a frown. ʺThat stuffʹs hard to get a hold of.ʺ

My patience was at an end. ʺAll of you: Rose needs to leave now. Sheʹs in danger. Iʹll drag her out if I have to.ʺ

ʺYou donʹt have to go with me,ʺ she said angrily. ʺIʹll take care of myself. No one else needs to get in trouble. Give me the keys.ʺ

I had a feeling I'd have to deal with Rose's stubbornness at some stage during the day.

ʺRose, I canʹt really get in any more trouble." I explained to her, hanging onto the keys. "Someone has to be responsible for helping you, and Iʹm the best choice.ʺ

ʺGo,ʺ said Eddie, hugging her quickly. At least someone understood that we _needed_ to get out of here. ʺWeʹll be in touch through Lissa."

Mikhail hugged her too, and she murmured something in his ear.

She hugged Adrian next and I felt that same pang in my stomach that I had felt earlier and I found myself looking away from them.

ʺAdrian, thank you for—ʺ I heard her start.

ʺItʹs not goodbye, little dhampir. Iʹll see you in your dreams.ʺ

ʺIf you stay sober enough.ʺ she said to him.

ʺFor you I just might.ʺ she replied.

A loud booming noise interrupted them, and there was a flash of light.

ʺThere, you see?ʺ asked Abe, quite pleased with himself. ʺA new gate. Perfect timing.ʺ

Rose gave Abe what looked like a slightly forced hug. Abe didn't pull back right away.

He smiled at her . . . fondly. ʺAh, my daughter,ʺ he said. ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder.ʺ

_Only Abe Mazur._

She rolled my eyes. ʺGoodbye, old man. And thanks."

I jumped into the car and Rose wasted no time climbing in the passenger seat. I took off before anyone could delay us any longer. I was half-expecting Rose to start arguing about me driving but she didn't say a word.

I sped out of the new opening that Abe had made.

ʺWhy is our getaway car a Civic?ʺ she asked. ʺItʹs not really great for off-roading.ʺ

ʺBecause Civics are one of the most common cars out there and donʹt attract attention. And this should be the only off-roading we do. Once we hit a freeway, weʹre putting as much distance between us and Court as we can—before abandoning the car, of course.ʺ I answered her, not letting my eyes roam from the road.

ʺAbandon—ʺ she started but cut herself off. ʺLook, now that weʹre out of there, I want you to know that I mean it: you donʹt have to come with me. I appreciate your help in the escape. Really. But hanging out with me wonʹt do you any favors. Theyʹll be hunting for me more than you. If you take off, you can live somewhere around humans and not be treated like a lab animal. You might even be able to slink back to Court. Tasha would put up a fight for you.ʺ

Her words sparked something in me. I wasn't sure exactly what. She didn't understand why I needed to help her. Hell…I didn't understand it.

I did know however, that she would do whatever was in her power to let her deal with this by herself.

ʺIʹm not leaving you." I replied. "None of your Rose-logic arguments are going to work. And if you try to get away from me, Iʹll just find you.ʺ

ʺBut why? I donʹt want you with me.ʺ

I knew she didn't. Especially after what I had said to her. I had hurt her but it was for her own good, and she had moved on.

ʺIt doesnʹt matter what you want,ʺ I said. ʺOr what I want.ʺ Lissa asked me to protect you.ʺ

ʺHey, I donʹt need anyone to—ʺ she started to argue again.

ʺAnd,ʺ I cut her off, ʺI meant what I said to her. I swore Iʹd serve her and help her for the rest of my life, anything she asks. If she wants me to be your bodyguard, then thatʹs what Iʹll be.ʺ He gave me a dangerous look. ʺThereʹs no way youʹre getting rid of me anytime soon.ʺ


	4. Chapter 4

**I know not many people are reading this but if you are, could you please let me know what you think? Do you want more of Dimitri's thoughts? Less dialogue? Or is it okay?**

**Please please please let me know! **

**Thank you!**

**Disclaimer – Richelle Mead owns this brilliant book, characters and it's plot. :)**

**Chapter 4**

We'd be driving for a while, the whole time I spent trying to decide what was going on in Rose's head.

Neither of us had said as much as one word and I knew that she was lost in her own thoughts.

Her forehead was a little bit scrunched up, indicating to me that she wasn't just thinking about small trivial things. How could she, after everything that had happened?

I kept my eyes on the road but was very much aware of how she kept glancing over at me, unconsciously, every few minutes, before returning her gaze out the window.

After about an hour, I decided it was time to put a stop to her train of thoughts.

"I know what you're thinking." I said, breaking the silence.

"Huh?"

I couldn't help but feel a little amusement at her. I wasn't even sure why. It was just Rose being…well, Rose.

"And it won't work." I told her, knowing full well that she was planning to escape from me. I knew her that well.

ʺYouʹre planning how to get away from me, probably when we eventually stop for gas. Youʹre thinking maybe youʹll have a chance to run off then.ʺ I knew exactly how her mind work and would put any amount of money to bet that this was her 'plan'.

ʺThis is a waste of time,ʺ she said, gesturing around the car.

ʺOh? You have better things to do than flee the people who want to lock you up and execute you? Please donʹt tell me again that this is too dangerous for me.ʺ I warned her.

I saw her glare at me from the passenger seat.

"Itʹs about more than just you. Running away shouldnʹt be my only concern. I should be helping clear my name, not hiding in whatever remote place youʹre undoubtedly taking me to. The answers are at Court.ʺ

ʺAnd you have lots of friends at Court who will be working on that. It'll be easier on them if they know youʹre safe.ʺ I tried to convince her, not sure if I'd be very successful. I knew Rose well…meaning I knew _exactly _how stubborn she could be…especially when it came to accepting help from anybody else.

"What I want to know is why no one told me about this – or, I mean why Lissa didn't. Why'd she hide it? Don't you think I'd have been more helpful if I'd been ready?" She asked me. I had a feeling she'd be annoyed about that.

Rose, like me, did not like being out of the loop.

"We did the fighting, not you. We were afraid if you knew, you might give away that something was up." I explained to her. It had originally been Abe's idea, but I had agreed. We didn't need any suspicions whatsoever.

"I would have never told!" She exclaimed. I could see her indignant look from the corner of my eye.

"Not intentionally, no. But if you were tense or anxious…well, you guards can pick up on those kinds of things."

ʺWell, now that weʹre out, can you tell me where weʹre going? Was I right? Is it some crazy, remote place?ʺ

I didn't answer her. I knew I could trust Rose, that much I was sure. But was it safe to tell her yet? I knew that she'd try to escape from my clutches, but if keeping secrets from her kept her with me I was more than willing to try it.

"I hate being out of the loop." She all but growled at me.

The corners of my mouth raised themselves of their own accord slightly.

"Well I have my own personal theory that the more you don't know, the more your curiosity is likely is to make sure you stick around with me." I told her.

sure you stick around with me.ʺ

"That's ridiculous," she replied, starting to argue with me.

I heard her sigh softly.

"When the hell did things get so out of control? When did you guys start being the masterminds? I'm the one who comes up with wacky, impossible plans. I'm supposed to be the general here. Now I'm barely a lieutenant."

I started to tell her that with her attitude and 'Rose-logic', she could never be just a lieutenant when I flash of car headlights caught my eye in the rear view mirror. I saw a black Sudan following along behind our car.

I swore under my breath and quickly racked my brain to find a way to get away from them.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked me. I saw her tense up, no doubt at my own serious state.

"We have a tail. I didn't think it would happen this soon." I told her, my eyes darting from the road to the rear view mirror.

"Are you sure?" she asked me.

I didn't have time to answer her, the Sudan was getting closer to us.

I saw my chance and took it. There was an exit off to the side and I cut across two lanes, ignoring the honks of the cars I had cut in front of. The side of the car clipped the exit ramp's rail.

I looked back and saw that the Sudan had made to follow us.

"The Court must have gotten the word out pretty fast. They had someone watching the interstates." I said, more to myself.

"Maybe we should have taken the back roads." She said to me.

I immediately disagreed. "Too slow. None of it would have been an issue once we switched cars, but they found us too soon. We'll have to get a new one here. This is the biggest city we'll hit before the Maryland border." The bigger the city, the more people and traffic, which meant we would be a lot harder to follow.

We reached Harrisburg and I drove a busy road, still watching the Sudan watching and following our every move.

"What exactly is your plan to get a new car?" Rose asked me, a little timidly, as though she was afraid to hear the answer.

Unfortunately for Rose, this wasn't the time for fear.

I couldn't explain it to her though, we were running out of time and it wouldn't be much longer until the Sudan caught up to us.

"Listen carefully," I started. "It is very, very important that you do exactly as I say. No improvising. No arguing. There are guardians in that car, and by now, they've alerted every other guardian around here – possibly even the human police." It was a possibility. Normally, guardians would keep these situations between fellow guardians but this was not a normal situation.

"Wouldn't the police catching us create a few problems?" Rose asked me, taking in my every word.

"The Alchemists would sort it out and make sure we ended up back with the Moroi." I answered her.

Rose stayed quiet for a few moments while she processed all this. I scanned the area using my guardian senses and skills to look for danger.

"No matter what you think of the choices everyone's been making for you, no matter how unhappy you are with this situation, you know – I know you do – that I've never failed you when our lives were at stake." I needed her to understand this, and to listen to my every word. "You trusted me in the past. Trust me now."

I knew I was asking for a lot. She _had _trusted me. I had since lost that trust, and that pained me. But I needed her to do this now.

She looked like she was about to argue but thought better of it.

_What was that about? _

I realised what she was probably thinking. When I was…Strigoi, I'd hurt and used her.

Of course I had let her down.

"Okay." She said softly, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I'll do whatever you say. Just remember not to talk down to me. I'm not your student anymore. I'm your equal now."

_Whoa…_Where had that come from?

I looked at her, surprise evident on my face. How could she think that I thought she was beneath me in some way? Even as a student I had treated her like she was my own age.

"You've always been my equal, Roza." I told her honestly. I wasn't sure why, but I felt that it was vitally important that she knew this.

Her face softened slightly and I realised that my old nickname for her had slipped out subconsciously.

I guess old habits die hard.

I turned my attention back to the oncoming Sudan, and then back to my surroundings.

"There." I said, pointing to a sign. "Do you see that movie theatre sign?"

Her eyes followed where my hand was pointing to the busy cinema.

"Yes." She replied.

"That's where we're going to meet." I told her, still keeping an eye out for any immediate danger, apart from the hoard of guardians no doubt still right on our tail.

Rose looked as though she was about to argue but remembered that she had promised not to argue. I was glad; neither of us could afford wasted time.

"If I'm not there in a half hour, you call this number and go without me." I told her quickly and handed her the piece of paper that Abe had given me that morning. I was obviously going to try my best to make this plan work, but there was also a strong possibility that I could be taken down by guardians before we got out of the city.

Rose started speaking again but I was too concentrated on making an abrupt, and also dangerous turn in an attempt to lose the gaining Sudan behind me. Luckily, this time, the turn I made was too fast for them to catch it as well; buying myself and Rose some extra time.

I drove into a packed parking lot outside a crowded mall. It was the perfect setting; full of humans so we blended in quite well.

I jumped out of the car and Rose followed me as we walked quickly to the doors of the wall.

"Here's where we split up," I told her. "Move fast, but don't run when we're inside. Don't attract attention. Blend in. Wind through it for a little bit; then get out through any exit but this one. Walk out near a group of humans and head for the theatre." I told her quickly, finishing just as we entered the building.

"Go!"

I gave her a small push to get her moving towards the first floor while I took off along the main one.

I walked quickly, but without attracting attention. The place was buzzing with people as I pushed my way through the crowd.

It took me a good five minutes to manoeuvre my way to the other side of the building, where I slipped out the back door. I was half expecting guardians to be waiting at every entrance but apparently they were further behind that I thought they were. They were probably only discovering our abandoned car now.

When I reached a distance I deemed far enough away, I broke into a light run. I needed to find a car and then get Rose, and get back on the road again.

There was a small neighbourhood in the town and I slowed myself as I made my way down the quiet footpath.

I scouted around the edge of a house, checking and double checking the windows to make sure nobody was home. From the looks of it, there wasn't.

I efficiently lifted the big door of the garage up over my head and peeked inside.

A red convertible beetle.

_Damn. _

Not inconspicuous, and definitely not ideal for two people on the run.

I dropped the door quietly and ran back to the footpath. I spotted a deserted car pack on the far side on the housing estate and made my way to the other side, jumping the wall efficiently.

About 20 minutes had passed since the time I left Rose so I needed to get a move on. I hoped she'd made to the theatre and was just waiting for me to get there.

I scanned the parking lot quickly and spotted a grey Honda Accord.

I went for it, breaking open the door and ripping off a piece of the plastic under the wheel. I found the ignition wires and started entwining them together, crossing them.

The car started without a problem and I jumped in.

I drove quickly out of the exit to the parking lot, cutting across someone coming from my right.

I drove back across town and stopped on the road outside the movie theatre, my eyes scanning the crowd for Rose.

It didn't take me long to spot her. Her hair was now tied up, but falling out of its messy bun. Her clothes were slightly ripped. She was looking around her, searching.

"Rose!" I called out the open driver's window to her.

Her head turned quickly and without hesitation, she ran to the passenger seat and climbed in.

I gave her a quick once over, all the while hitting the accelerator and speeding away from the cinema.

I made my way back to the main road and kept checking the rear view mirror for fear they had caught on and followed us. It didn't seem like it.

We were both silent for a few minutes but Rose spoke.

"Is there anyone behind us?" She asked me, just as I reached the highway.

"It doesn't look like it. It'll take them a while to figure out what car we're in." I answered her, still not looking in her direction.

"Did you hotwire this car? Did you steal this car?" She asked me, her tone of voice a little disbelieving.

"You have an interesting set of morals." I commented. "Breaking out of jail is okay. But steal a car, and you sound totally outraged."

"I'm just more surprised than outraged." She told me, relaxing a little into the seat and sighing softly. "I was afraid…well, for a moment there, I was afraid you weren't coming back. That they'd caught you or something."

I couldn't help but feel a very small piece of warmth in my chest when she expressed her concern for me.

"No. Most of the time was spent sneaking out and finding a suitable car." I told her. In truth, I was more than lucky to not have fun into any guardians.

We fell into silence once again.

"You didn't ask what happened to me." Rose said after a while, something in her voice telling me that something had annoyed her a bit.

"Don't need to. You're here. That's what counts."

"I got in a fight." She stated.

"I can tell. Your sleeve is ripped."

Rose glanced down at her clothes as though only noticing there dishevelled state.

"Don't you want to know anything about the fight?" She asked me, trying to get my attention.

"I already know. You took down your enemy. You did it fast, and you did it well. Because you're just that good." I told her straight out.

She stayed quiet for about thirty seconds before speaking again.

"Okay. So what now, General?" I felt a little pang of some unidentifiable emotion when she called me General…it was similar to her strange nickname she had given me when we first met. "Don't you think they'll scan reports of stolen cars and get our license plate number?" she continued before I had a chance to try and figure out the new feeling.

"Likely." I answered her. Yes Rose was reckless…and yes she was impulsive, but dumb she was not. "But by then, we'll have a new car – one they won't have any clue about."

I saw her frowning at me from the corner of my eye. "How are you pulling that off?"

"We're meeting someone in a few hours." I told her, remember the clear instructions left by Abe.

"Damn it. I really hate being the last one to know about everything." She grumbled.

We didn't speak again for a long while. I concentrated on driving and keeping an eye out for pursuing guardians while Rose seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. I found myself feeling curious as to what she was thinking.

I refrained from asking her and drove a couple of hours until we arrived in Roanoke in Virginia.

I kept an eye out for a McDonald's sign where told me we were to meet the Alchemist. He had said she was trustworthy and that she and Rose had met before. I had been a bit apprehensive about involving someone I knew nothing about, but if Abe trusted her…I had to too.

"I don't suppose that this is a food break?" Rose asked, obviously spotting the McDonald's sign.

"This is where we catch out next ride." I told her, looking out for this Syndey Sage's car in the parking lot.

I spotted a girl on the far side leaning against a tan SUV, matching the description Abe had given me.

I pulled up next to her and Rose jumped out of the car before it had even stopped moving.

I climbed out after her and saw Rose addressing the young woman. She looked to be about Rose's age.

"Sydney?" she asked her.

The human girl turned at the sound of her name and I noticed the gold tattoo on her cheek.

It was definitely the right girl.

"Hey Rose," she spoke, a small smile on her face. She held up a brown paper bag with a golden arch on it.

"Figured you'd be hungry."

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	5. Chapter 5

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**Chapter 5**

"What the hell?" Rose exclaimed. "Is this daring escape being sponsored by Honda?"

I mentally rolled my eyes. Of course Rose wasn't thinking about the fact that we were being pursued by a hundred guardians.

When neither myself nor Sydney answered, she asked another question.

"Are we going to New Orleans?"

"No," Sydney answered, after we had climbed in and she was backing out of the parking space. "We're going to West Virginia."

Rose's head turned abruptly to look at me, as though willing me to deny it. I didn't.

"I assume by 'West Virginia,' you actually mean 'Hawaii,' she said to us. I had another urge to roll my eyes. "Or some place equally exciting."

"Honestly, I think you're better off avoiding excitement right now," Sydney said to her wisely. "And West Virginia's actually really pretty."

I saw a hint of amusement in Rose's eyes and had a feeling she was thinking of some sarcastic comment. One that she didn't voice out loud though.

"Why are you helping us?" Rose directed her question at Sydney.

"Why do you think?" she answered darkly. Abe hadn't told me how he had gotten a human – an Alchemist – to help us. But if Abe was involved, it couldn't have been good.

"Abe." Rose stated, voicing my thoughts.

Sydney sighed loudly. "I'm really starting to wonder if New Orleans was worth it."  
I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about but Rose seemed to understand.

"Okay. So why are we going to West Virginia?"

I saw that Sydney was about to respond but I cut her off.

"Not yet." I knew that if Rose found out that we were they to basically hide her from the Moroi world then she would give both myself and Sydney more than a little bit of hassle.

Rose turned in her seat and sent me a glare; if I hadn't been on the receiving end of them so often, I would have been a little scared of her.

"I'm so sick of this! We've been on the run for six hours now, and I still don't know all the details. I get that we're staying away from the guardians, but are we seriously going to West Virginia? Are we going to make some cabin our base of operation? Like, one on the side of a mountain that doesn't have plumbing?"

In normal circumstances, I would have laughed at her outburst, but if I was in her place, I would have been frustrated too. Frustration on her part, however, was necessary at this very moment.

Sydney gave Rose an exasperated look and said, "Do you actually know anything about West Virginia?"

Rose looked on the verge of another outburst but then spoke with more control to Sydney.

"You know we've been set up, right?" I had been curious myself as to whether or not this Sydney person believed us. I didn't know her very well after all and still didn't trust her completely. And after all, Alchemists didn't like Dhampirs and Morois. "We didn't really do anything. They say I killed the queen but-" Rose continued but Sydney interrupted her before she could finish.

"I know," she said. "I've heard all about it. All the Alchemists know about it. You two are at the top of our most wanted list."

It still didn't answer the question of whether or not she believed us. She seemed uncomfortable, but that was probably due to the fact that she was suddenly with two half-vampires that she had been taught to hate all her life.

"I didn't do it," Rose insisted.

Sydney didn't agree, and yet she didn't disagree. All she said was, "You should eat. Your foods getting cold. We've got a little over three hours to go and won't be stopping except for gas."

Sydney's tone signalled that she was done talking about it, and she stared at the road ahead of her while Rose turned to the McDonalds bag and dug in.

Unexpectedly, Rose swivelled in her seat and offered what looked like a cheese burger to me.

"You want one? Gotta keep up your strength." She said, pushing the burger toward me.

I looked at the piece of food. It looked appealing but I hadn't had an urge to eat in a long time. In the end, the hungry feeling in my stomach made me give in, as well as the fact that Rose was right – we all needed to keep up our strength.

I took the burger from her hands and she offered me a box of fries as well before turning around to face the front again.

I ate what she gave me, and was surprised by how good I thought it was. I thought it would take months before I got used to eating and drinking anything other than blood again.

I felt the grief spring back up inside me, but I pushed all images of dead bodies away from me and focused on the task at hand.

I looked around the back seats of the car and noticed there was two small backpacks. I opened one and my heart gave a funny leap in my heart when I saw one of the long, leather coats that I loved so much. I remembered Abe promising that there would be one waiting for me. Before investigating much further, I picked up the second bag and gave it a quick search.

"I think this is for you," I addressed Rose, leaning forward and handing her the backpack filled with clothes in her size. Rose opened her bag as I went back to my own.

"A duster?" Rose exclaimed as I pulled the coat out of my bag. "You managed to get him a duster, but you couldn't find me a pair of jeans?"

"Abe said it was essential." Sydney said, unconcerned. "Besides, if all goes like it's supposed to, you won't be doing any fighting."

Rose just looked at her. Unhappiness clearly etched on her face.

The next three hours in the car were spent in silence, each of us obviously consumed by our own thoughts.

My own, drifted back to the last time Rose and I had been completely alone.

In her own personal prison.

I hated myself. I hated myself for what I had done to her - to what I had done to others.

I stopped myself from thinking about it anymore when we reached West Virginia. It was dark out which worried me a little. The dark made us more vulnerable to Strigoi. Usually, they preferred Moroi, but that didn't mean they didn't like to prey on Dhampirs every once in a while.

After checking and re-checking that we hadn't been followed, I deemed it safe…from guardians anyway.

Sydney drove to the quiet Motel that we were going to be staying at indefinitely.

The three of us climbed out of the Honda and walked towards the entrance. It felt good to stretch my legs after sitting down for so long.

We got checked in, under fake names of course, and we walked down the badly-looked after hallway.

Sydney stopped outside her own room and handed me a key to the second room.

"We're not all staying together?" Rose asked.

"Hey, if you guys get caught, I don't want to be anywhere near you," Sydney replied. _Nice. _"I'll still be nearby though. We'll talk in the morning."

"We're sharing a room?" Rose looked at me and asked.

Sydney shrugged her shoulders. "All the better to defend yourselves."

Then she turned and entered her room, closing the door behind her.

I glanced at Rose just as she glanced at me and we both headed into our own room. Rose walked in ahead of me and I shut and locked the door behind us for protection.

I felt exhausted. It had been a long day and a half. I noticed an old wooden chair near the corner of the room and sat down, a sense of relief at finally being able to relax a little running through my bones.

Rose sat across the room on the bed, facing me. "What now?"

"Now we wait," I finally admitted to her.

"For what?"

"For Lissa and the others to clear your name and find out who killed the queen." I told her simply. I waited for the outburst.

Rose sat staring at me expectantly, as though waiting for a further explanation. When I said no more, the expectant look slowly turned to one of disbelief.

"What are we going to do?" She demanded. "How are we going to help them?"

"We told you earlier: You can hardly go looking for clues at Court." I told her patiently. "You need to stay away. You need to stay safe."

She gestured around the room. "What, and this is it? This is where you're stashing me? I thought…I thought there was something here. Something to help."

"It is helping." I explained, still patiently, to her. "Sydney and Abe researched this place and decided it was out of the way enough to avoid attention."

Rose shot to her feet. I immediately tensed at her sudden movements.

"Okay, comrade." My stomach fluttered once again at the use of her nickname for me. I ignored it.

"There's one serious problem here with your logic," she continued. "You guys keep acting like me staying out of the way is helping."

"What's a serious problem is us repeating this conversation over and over. The answer to who murdered Tatiana are at Court, and that's where you friends are. They'll figure this out." I tried to convince her.

"I didn't just get in a high-speed chase and jump state lines to hole up in some crappy motel! How long are you planning on 'staying out of the way' here?"

I stayed calmed despite her outburst.

"As long as it takes. We have the funds to stay here indefinitely."

"I probably have enough spare change in my pocket to stay here indefinitely! But it's not happening. I have to do something. I won't just take the easy way out and sit around."

I rolled my eyes mentally. I had gotten used to her stubbornness and slight childishness during our many trainings back at the Academy. I felt pain at the thought of my days before I had been turned.

Everything had changed.

"Survival isn't as easy as you think." I told her, my arms crossed over my chest.

"Oh God," Rose groaned. "You've been hanging out with Abe, haven't you? You know, when you were a Strigoi, you told me to stay away from him. Maybe you should take your own advice."

Pain. Memories. Hurt.

Three things that engulfed my entire being as soon as the words left her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean-"

I cut her off, not being able to bear another word.

"We're done discussing this. Lissa says we're staying, so we're staying here."

"That's why you're doing this? Because Lissa told you to?" She exclaimed angrily.

I ignored her anger.

"Of course. I swore I'd serve and help her."

I knew I was being extremely childish, but I wanted to hurt her after she had deliberately brought up my own painful memories.

Rose's anger wasn't evident on her face. She stood still, and darkness seeped into her eyes. A dangerous sign.

"Forget it. I am not staying here." Her voice wavering with the anger she was trying to hold in.

She moved towards the door and faster than ever, I was in front of her, blocking her path and pushing her out of the way.

I pinned her against the wall by her wrists.

"You're staying here. Whether you like it or not."

I could see the wheels turning in her head.

Before I had time to block, she kneed me in the stomach, making me almost fall to my knees in pain. She was small for a dhampir, but boy did she have strength.

She had pulled out of my grip while I had been frozen in surprise. She got as far as the door once again before I recovered and grabbed her, throwing her onto the bed. She landed face first into the questionably 'clean' bedclothes. I leaned all of my weight on her, keeping her down, while also pinning her hands and legs for good measure.

She struggled underneath me, to no avail. I wasn't letting go.

"Stop this," I said to her quietly. "Be reasonable for once. You can't get past me."

"I'm not the one being unreasonable," she growled at me. "You're the one caught up in some noble promise that makes no sense. And I know you don't like to sit out of the action any more than I do. Help me. Help me find the murderer and do something useful." She said and stopped struggling.

I couldn't help but feel surprise that she knew that I wasn't exactly fond of the idea of waiting out here for who knows how long. Nobody else had guessed that.

"I don't like sitting around, but I also don't like rushing into an impossible situation!" I continued to argue against her.

"Impossible situations are our speciality," she said. Her words sparked more memories…this time different ones. Ones of us fighting in the battle at the Academy a couple of months back and of Lissa shoving the spirit-induced stake through my chest.

Rose lashed out abruptly. I kicked myself for not staying focused. She tried to get out from under me but only got as far as turning around so that she was on her back before I had her pinned once again.

"One day," I said, trying to compromise with her. "You can't even wait one day?"

"Maybe if we'd gone to a nicer hotel. With cable."

_Only Rose._

"This is no time for jokes, Rose."

"Then let me do something. Anything." She almost pleaded.

"I. Can't." I spoke through my teeth. She didn't understand that this was just as hard for me as it was for her.

I was expecting another angry or even sarcastic remark.

What she did next was definitely _not _what I was expecting.

She kissed me.

My whole being froze once again in surprise. Not being able to stop myself, I kissed her back.

Why? I didn't know. I just knew that I couldn't stop myself.

It was then that I realised – despite everything that had happened…everything I had said and done to her…I wanted her. I _needed _her.

It was also then, that she punched me.

Her fist hit my left cheekbone and pained shot through the left side of my face.

Before I knew what had happened, she was out of my hold and heading out the door.

I jumped up off the bed just as she slammed the door behind her.

Reaching the door, I yanked it open…running into an abandoned cleaning cart.

I groaned loudly in annoyance at the thing and flung it to the side, it's contents spilling out all over the floor, and a poof of dust filling the air.

"There's a guy chasing me!" I heard her voice ring out from the lobby.

Shit.

Why did she have to make everything so difficult?

The answer was simple…because she was Rose.

I reached the lobby less than a minute later. The desk clerk made to stop me in my path but I just shoved him aside and pushed opened the front door, and headed out into the dark night.

**Let me know what you thought please! Or if you have any ideas or suggestions that you think would make it better :) Thank you!**

**-Laurie **


	6. Chapter 6

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**Chapter 6**

I burst out the door and paused for a moment.

Rose was not in sight.

There were two possible routes; into the town, or into the woods. Knowing Rose would probably expect me to think that she'd go toward the lights and civilisation; I turned and took off towards the woods.

I ran swiftly on the balls of my feet, making the least noise possible. After running for about 10 minutes, I slowed down, listening for any slight sound of feet rustling fallen leaves or heavy breathing as she moved through the thick trees.

After another minute, I spotted her just standing in a clearing in the forest.

Running at her full speed, I tackled her before she even knew I had found her.

We landed on the ground with a thud and I moved on top of her, pinning her down for the second time tonight.

"You should have just hidden in town. It would have been the last place I looked." I said to her, my smugness at finding her with almost no problem evident in my voice. "Instead, I knew exactly where you'd go."

Rose's surprised expression was just disappearing when she spoke. I had actually taken her completely by surprise. She looked like she'd been asleep and someone had dunked a bucket of water over her head.

"Whatever." She said, struggling against me. "Don't act so smart. You made a lucky guess, that's all."

"I don't need luck, Roza," Her nickname rolling off my tongue before I could stop it. "I'll always find you. So, it's up to you how difficult you want this situation to be." I paused and made sure she was listening before I continued. "We can do this over and over, or you can do the reasonable thing and just stay put with Sydney and me."

"It's not reasonable!" She went back to what felt like a very old argument. "It's wasteful."

"How many times do I have to explain the logic behind what we're doing?" I asked, feeling exhausted after tonight's events.

"Until you give up," She answered and pushed with as much strength as she could muster against me.

I pulled her to her feet and she made a small noise of surprise. Before she could get her head around what had happened, I had her arms pinned behind her back and was walking her in the direction of the motel.

"I am not letting you and Sydney risk getting in trouble with me. I'll take care of myself, so just let me go!"

That's what this was about?

Before I could answer her, she stuck her foot about and hooked it around the base of a tree.

I groaned at her antics and loosened my grip ever so slightly so I could remove her foot. As soon as she felt the change, she tried to run. She only got two steps before I had a firm grip on her again.

"Rose, you can't win." I told her, wishing she'd just give up and come with me effortlessly.

This was Rose however…that was never going to happen.

"How's your face feeling?" She asked.

I ignored the jab and continued to pull her along.

"I'm seconds away from just tossing you over my shoulder," I warned her.

I'd like to see you try."

"How do you think Lissa would feel if you got killed?" I asked her, trying a different approach. As I spoke the words, it occurred to me that this was another small reason that I had agreed to watch over Rose and protect her.

I had already explained to Rose why we couldn't be together…but how would I feel about living in a world where Rose didn't exist?

I tightened my grip on her.

"Can you imagine what it would do to her if she lost you?" I wasn't sure if I was still talking about Lissa.

Rose didn't say anything for a few minutes, surprising us both.

"Have a little faith, comrade. I won't get killed." She said, breaking the silence. "I'll stay alive."

Rose had some of the strongest determination I had ever seen…but I hadn't exactly been expecting it here.

"There are other ways to help her than whatever insanity you're thinking of." I told her, mentally preparing myself to once again try and convince her that staying out of the way would give them a chance to gather some new evidence.

Before she could answer, she went limp in my arms.

I stumbled a little, tightening my grip on her to keep her upright.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, for all I knew this was another one of her plans to get away from me.

When she didn't answer however, I started to worry a bit.

_Worry…_Something I hadn't felt toward anything being since being turned back.

I turned attention back to Rose and noticed she had a far-off look in her eyes. A look I had seen a couple of times before. A look that told me she was seeing through Lissa's eyes.

I relaxed slightly realising that there wasn't anything dangerously wrong with Rose…but tensed back up, remembering that Rose only ever got sucked into Lissa's head when she was feeling a particularly strong emotion.

"You're right," she said quietly.

"Right about…?" I was trying hard to understand.

"Rushing back to Court won't help Lissa."

Shock was an understatement to what I was feeling.

Did _Rose Hathaway _just agree to something reasonable?

I'll go back to the motel with you, and I won't go running off to Court. But I'm not going to sit around and do nothing. I am going to do something for Lissa – and you and Sydney are going to help me."

**Thanks for reading! If you get a chance, check out my other story Hook, Line and Sinker :) I'm still working on it :)**


	7. Chapter 7

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**Chapter 7**

Rose didn't say much more about her idea. She'd said she'd explain it when Sydney was with us.

We reached the edge of the forest near the motel and I pulled Rose back behind the trees when I saw the flashing red and blue lights surrounding the place.

"The whole town turned out," she said quietly.

"You just had to say something to the desk clerk, didn't you?" I asked her, sighing in exasperation.

She made our way around the outskirts of the forest and decided to hide in the shadow of an old, run-down building.

"I thought it would slow you down." She said and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's going to slow us down now," I retorted, inspecting the scene nearby us. There was no way we'd be able to stay here now.

I noticed the grey Honda was nowhere to be scene.

"Sydney's car is gone. That's something, at least." I commented. At least Sydney had gotten out in time, meaning that it would be easier to get out of here now that I knew she wasn't trapped in questioning about any "suspicious behaviour" she may have seen.

"Is it? We just lost our ride!" Rose said, louder than before.

I signalled to her to keep her voice down before answering.

"She wouldn't leave us, but she was smart enough to get out before the police came knocking on her door." I decided it were best if we moved away from the scene, that way Sydney wouldn't have to return to the scene to come get us.

"Come on. She has to be close, and there's a good chance the police might actually start searching around if they thought some defenceless girl was being chased down," I said, emphasising the 'defenseless', both of us knowing that she was anything but.

I decided it would be best if we walked along the road that led us into town. If Sydney was to come looking for us, she'd find us so much easier.

Rose walked beside me with a new determination. It made me wonder what she had meant when she had said 'I am going to do something for Lissa – and you and Sydney are going to help me'.

She had me curious. What had sparked this new determination and had made her agree with me back in the woods?

We both spotted Sydney's car pulled off on the road's shoulder at the same time. We made our way over and Rose walked to the driver's window and knocked. I followed her and got there in time to see Sydney's incredulous face looking out.

"What did you do? Never mind. Don't bother. Just get in."

Rose climbed into the back of the car like a dog with his tail between his legs. I was feeling a little sheepish at being scolded as well as I climbed into the passenger seat.

I pushed it away though; it was ridiculous to feel like this when I was the eldest here. _I_ was looking after _them._

I didn't really believe that though. I knew Rose was more than capable of looking after herself, and I had a feeling that I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Sydney.

Sydney pulled out and drove in the direction we'd come in. She drove for a few miles before reaching the small highway leading to the interstate. Before we reached it, however, she pulled over and turned to face Rose.

"You ran, didn't you?" She demanded.

"Yeah, but I got this–" Sydney cut her off by holding her hand up to her face.

"No, don't. Not yet. I wish you could have pulled off your daring escape without attracting the authorities." She said.

I was very much in agreement with her.

"Me too," I said, joining the conversation.

Rose glared at both of us.

"Hey, I came back, didn't I?"

I just looked at her in amusement.

_Yeah, she came back alright…_

"And now I know what we have to do to help Lissa." She continued.

"What we have to do is find a safe place to stay." Sydney said.

I knew she was right, but I was also intrigued by what Rose had to say.

"Just go back to civilisation and pick a hotel. One with room service. We can make that our base of operation while we work on the next plan." Rose tried to argue.

"We researched that town specifically! We can't go to some random place – at least not nearby. I doubt they took down my plates, but they could put out a call to look for this kind of car. If they've got that and our descriptions, and its gets to the state police, it'll get to the Alchemists and then it'll-" she was getting worked up.

"Calm down," I told her and placed a reassuring hand on her arm. She was getting carried away. "We don't know that any of that's going to happen. Why don't you just call Abe?" I suggested.

"Yeah. That's exactly what I want. To tell him I messed up the plan in less than twenty-four hours." She replied.

"Well," Rose said, piping in. "if it makes you feel better, the plan's about to change anyway-" I almost rolled my eyes.

"Be quiet." She snapped at her. "Both of you. I need to think."

I looked back at Rose as she looked at me. Neither of us said anything.

I had wanted her to tell us what her plan was because, despite most of them being crazy…some were actually pretty genius.

It was not a good time to tell us though with Sydney being in a bad mood, so I'd have to push my curiosity down for the time being.

Before driving off, she pulled out a map and studied it.

She punched Altswood into the GPS system.

"What's in Altswood?" Rose asked her curiously, managing to sound slightly disappointed at the same time.

"Nothing," Sydney replied. "But it's the closest place to where we're going that the GPS can find."

I felt my curiosity pick up as I wondered where we were now going. Preferring to keep my head attached to my body though, I decided against asking Sydney anymore questions until she cooled down.

I gave up on that curiosity, but returned to my earlier one. I turned to Rose.

"So what's going on with Lissa? What's this great plan of yours?" I looked to Sydney. "Rose says there's something important we have to do."

"So I gathered," was all she answered. I figured that was as good as we could probably get. I looked back to Rose to continue.

Rose took a deep breath and looked apprehensive. "So, it, um, turns out Lissa has a brother or sister. And I think we should find them."

_That _was the last thing I had been expecting. I heard Sydney gasp in shock from beside me but I kept my eyes on Rose.

Rose spoke calmly, but I heard the pain in her voice at admitting this out loud.

After processing the news about another Dragomir, the rest of her words settled in. _Find the other Dragomir? How did she even know there was another one?_

Rose saw I was about to ask her for proof and started shuffling. She produced a crumbled up piece of paper and read it out loud.

I was still a little apprehensive about this. I could see Sydney was as well. I read over the note for myself before speaking again.

"You have no proof Tatiana wrote this note," I told her, trying to look at all aspects. Someone could have forged her handwriting and made sure this note found its way to Rose.

"The Alchemist's have no records of another Dragomir," Sydney said.

"I don't really see why Tatiana's spirit would want to deceive me," Rose argued. "And the Alchemist's aren't all-knowing. The note says this is a pretty heavily guarded secret from Moroi – it makes sense it would be secret from the Alchemists too." She had a point. _If _it was true, a lot of effort would have been made to cover it up. But Rose had also told me before, when she had first started seeing her friend Mason's ghost, that sometimes it wasn't clear what he was trying to say.

"You've said before that it's not always clear what the ghosts are trying to say," I reminded her. "Maybe you misread her."

"I don't know…" Rose replied, not looking convinced at my suggestion. "I think she did write this note. My gut says she did."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You know it's been right before. Can you trust me on this?"

We stared at each other for a minute. I thought to all of the times when Rose had saved herself, or Lissa, or someone else by acting on her gut feeling.

If her gut was telling her that this note was authentic…then I believed her.

I nodded slowly at her. I knew I was making a big gamble, but even after everything, I trusted Rose.

"But if we decided to search for this alleged sibling, we'd be going against Lissa's instructions to stay put." I was torn.

"You believe that note?" Sydney exclaimed, looking at me from the driver's seat. "You're considering listening to it?"

Both Rose and I ignored her for the time being. When I looked back at Rose, I saw the anger in her eyes.

She took a deep breath, trying to control it and spoke.

"Technically, yes. But if we could actually prove she wasn't that last in her family, it would help her a lot. We can't ignore the chance, and if you manage to keep me out of trouble while we do it" – she grimaced ever so slightly – "then there shouldn't be a problem."

I tried my best to open my mind to what she was saying.

Lissa had an unknown sibling. If we found this sibling and brought him/her back to Court, Lissa would have another family member, meaning she would be entitled to her vote. If she got her vote, the Council could reconsidered the new Age law and Lissa would vote against it, meaning that it would be retracted.

I thought of my nephew Paul.

It hurt to think of my family, but for the time being, I had to push away that pain and hurt. Paul was ten years old. If this Age Law wasn't abolished, he would be sent off to fight in less than six years. I couldn't let that happen to him, or to any other kid. Because that's exactly what they were – _kids. _

I made my decision.

"Okay. But where do we start? You have no other clues, aside from a mysterious note." I spoke to her.

"Obviously, this is a secret. A big one. One people have apparently wanted to cover up – enough that they'd try to steal records about it and keep the Dragomirs out of power."

She told us about how someone had stolen papers from an Alchemist paper which indicated that Eric Dragomir had been funding some woman. Rose pointed out that this woman was more than likely the mother of the child.

It was a very likely theory.

"You could look into that case some more." Rose directed towards Sydney.

"Whoa, hey. How was I not even part of this decision process?" Sydney spoke, looking far from pleased. "Maybe breaking Lissa's orders is no big deal for you two, but I'd be going against Abe. He might not be so lenient."

"I'll pull in a daughterly favour," Rose said. "Besides, the old man loves secrets. He'd be into this, believe me." It was extraordinary to suddenly notice how much she is like her father.

"And you've already found the biggest clue of all. I mean, if Eric was giving money to some anonymous woman, then why wouldn't it be for his secret and child?"

"Anonymous is the key word. If you're theory's right – and it's kind of a leap – we still have no idea who this mistress is. The stolen documents didn't say."

Sydney had a point. I had no idea where to go from here.

"Are there other records that tie into the stolen ones? Or could you investigate the bank he was sending money to?" If only it were that easy.

"You really have no idea how 'researching records' works, do you? It's not that easy. It could take a while."

"Well… I guess that's why it's good we're going somewhere, um, secure, right?" Rose said, not sounding too sure of herself for once.

"Secure…" Sydney repeated and shook her head. "Well, we'll see. I hope I'm not doing something stupid."

The car fell silent as we drove towards our still-concealed destination. According to the GPS we still had an hour to drive.

I had an urge to turn around and looked at Rose to make she was alright. It had been a long day, and finding out that her best friend's deceased father had another secret child couldn't have been easy finding out.

I kept looking straight ahead though, keeping an eye out danger instead. We couldn't forget that we were still being searched for.

After more than forty minutes, Sydney stopped the car and pulled out her laptop. I turned to look at Rose in the back. She had been very quiet the whole journey.

When I turned around to see her face though, I saw that strange but familiar blank look on her face.

"Rose." I spoke softly to her, not wanting to startle her.

"Everything okay back there?" I asked her, knowing that she'd been in Lissa's head.

She just nodded at me, looking deep in thought.

"Where are we?" She asked me, looking out one of the windows.

"Altswood," I answered her.

"Makes our last town look like New York." She commented.

Sydney closed the laptop and handed it back to Rose, who lay it down gently on the seat beside her.

Sydney started the engine again and drove deep into the trees. She drove at five miles per hour until she reached a small gravel path that was heavily obscured. Her anxiety spiked and filled the atmosphere in the car.

Finally, we reached a clearing in the trees, where several other strange vehicles sat parked.

Sydney pulled up into a space, a little way away from the others and shut off the engine.

I was expecting her to drive us to another dingy motel, not into the middle of a forest.

"Are we at a campground" Rose asked her.

She ignored Rose's question and turned to me.

"Are you as good as they say you are?" she asked me.

"What?" I replied, completely lost.

"Fighting. Everyone keeps talking about how dangerous you are. Is it true? Are you that good?" She asked me.

I knew I was better than most guardians when it came to combat, but saying that out loud seemed so arrogant to me.

"Pretty good." I answered her.

Rose scoffed from the back seat.

"Very good," she corrected.

"I hope it's enough," Sydney said and reached for the door's handle.

Now I was a little apprehensive about walking into this place…whatever it was. Why would I need to fight?

"Aren't you going to ask about me?" Rose asked her, unhappy at being unaccounted for.

"I already know you're dangerous, I've seen it." Sydney answered.

"Why'd we stop?" Rose asked her as we walked out across the rural parking lot.

"Because we have to go on foot now." She shone a flashlight and moved it around until it landed on a small gravel footpath heading farther into the trees.

"There." She said and the three of us moved toward it.

I was feeling bad about this.

The plan had been to avoid danger, and Sydney had just suggested that we were now walking into it voluntarily.

"Wait," I spoke and moved so that I was in front of them both. Scouting the area, I saw that Rose had moved to cover the back of our party. I had always known she'd make a great guardian, despite her impulsive and reckless ways.

I tightened my grip on the stake I held in my hand as we moved farther and farther into the woods. The only sounds were our breathing and our light footsteps moving through the grass and weeds.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked Sydney from behind.

"To people I guarantee won't turn you in," she answered. They were reassuring words but the tone she spoke in was not.

Suddenly, light shown directly in our direction, blinding me for a few seconds. My hand gripped my stake even tighter and my other senses enhanced, expecting some form of an attack.

It didn't come however.

As my eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden light, the first thing I saw was vampire faces all around us.

**Anybody read Foretold yet? I'm still waiting for mine in the post so if you have, no spoilers please! :P God how I love Rose & Dimitri :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**I got Foretold today! So excited :D I haven't started it yet; I'm going to wait til I'm in bed to read it :)**

**Thanks you guys for the reviews! Means a lot. **

**Also, I started a new RxD story if ye wanna check it out; It's called It's a Tough World Out There :)**

**Chapter 8**

The majority of the faces were Moroi…but there were many Dhampirs as well. I didn't attack but I also didn't drop my guard. There were Moroi surrounding us. They weren't posing a massive threat but they were wary of us.

A man who looked as though he may be in his late thirties took a few steps closer. My guardian instincts started to kick in as I noticed the silver stake in his hand, ready to defend my small group if the need should arise.

He studied me closely before his eyes drifted back to Rose and Sydney.

I realised after a moment that he didn't regard myself or Rose's as a threat as he lowered his weapon slightly. He was carefully scrutinizing Sydney, and I have to say, I couldn't really blame him. I mean, how often do you come across two Dhampirs – well trained guardians at that – hanging out with an Alchemist.

Not that _hanging out _was exactly the correct term.

I didn't relax from my defensive position as he moved ever so slightly closer. Suddenly, he reached out toward Sydney and I moved to get in his path. I noticed after a second that Rose had done the same thing.

However, before I did, hands reached out and stopped both myself and Rose in our tracks. I was more than wary now. I was about to fight them off me but Sydney's voice stopped me.

"Wait," she said.

The man gripped her chin and I felt myself tense up.

"Lily-girl," he murmured quietly.

He turned his attention from Sydney to me and Rose.

"You're here to join us?" he asked, still looking quite unsure of us.

"We need shelter," Sydney answered him. "They're being chased by – by the Tainted."

Confusion rushed over me.

The Tainted? I had never heard that term before, but I trusted Sydney knew what she was doing.

A woman nearby spoke up. "More like spies for the Tainted."

"The Tainted Queen is dead," Sydney announced. She nodded her head towards Rose. "They think she did it."

So '_The Tainted'_ obviously was a strange term for Moroi and Dhampirs who lived in the modern world.

Rose and I both kept quiet, even though I could see the curiosity and confusion at what was going on in her eyes.

To my surprise, the man smiled at her words.

"And so, another usurper passes on. Is there a new one yet?" He asked.

"No," Sydney replied. "They'll have elections soon and choose."

A few mutters broke out around the group at the mention of the upcoming elections. These mutters were not like the ones so often heard at Court. These rumours were not full of excitement and anticipation. They were full of disgust and disdain.

"How else would they choose a new kind or queen?" Rose piped up.

A dhampir who was standing nearby the other woman who had spoken a while ago answered, "In the true way. The way it used to be, long ago. In a battle to the death."

Silence.

These people were groups of Moroi and Dhampir alike, hiding out and living in forests. They disliked the Royals, or anything to do with the system.

The man turned and walked down the path. We followed, still cautiously and the others followed too.

We didn't have to walk very long. We enter a clearing that was set up like a campground. There was a bonfire with people surrounding it. There were small structures around the edge of the clearing and spreading out further into the trees. The word _huts_ came to my mind as I briefly studied them. They were small and shabby, much like the majority of the clothing on the people who were obviously living here.

Studying the place closer, I realised that the 'village' was situated at the base of a mountain. I could see many differently sized caves lining the base.

I moved my gaze back to the people sitting around the bonfire. Their chatting had stopped and they were all silent as they looked at us. There were just less than a dozen of them, but didn't look like any major threat. I was keeping a close eye on them anyway.

Shock hit my system when I noticed that not everyone here were Moroi and Dhampir. Humans were scattered around the place too, and had been previously chatting with the others. I kept my face neutral though, not letting anyone see how truly surprised I was.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rose move slightly closer to Sydney. I was close enough to both of them to hear what they were talking about.

"What in God's name is all this?" she whispered to Sydney.

"The Keepers," Sydney answered her in a quiet voice.

So I was right; they were called Keepers, people who believed in ancient traditions of the Moroi ways, and had moved out into the wilderness to live the way they believed.

"Keepers? What does that mean?" Rose asked Sydney but the man who had greeted us answered.

"It means that unlike your people, we still keep the old ways, the way we truly should."

I strongly disagreed with the ways of these people. I knew that Rose did too; I just hoped that she could keep her mouth shut and not disagree with the people who may very well be saving our lives right now.

"Why are they here, Raymond?" A woman who was by the fire asked, her features illuminated by the bright light. She was human, I noticed. "Are they joining us?"

"No," the man named Raymond answered her. "The Tainted are after them for killing the Queen."

His logic wasn't correct but I let it go. I saw Rose about to deny his statement too but Sydney nudged her before she could say anything. I was glad. If we disagreed with them, I wasn't sure they'd let us stay for the time being.

The rest of the people in the clearing looked at the three of us in awe. Figures.

"We're giving them refuge," he continued, smiling brightly at us. "Although, you are welcome to join us and live here. We have room in the caves."

I would join them when hell froze over.

Despite my feelings, I kept all emotions from my face.

"We only need to stay here…" she trailed off, looking a little unsure. "A couple days probably."

That would probably be enough time to figure out and plan our next move.

"You can stay with my family," Raymond told us. "Even you." He said to Sydney.

"Thank you," she answered him. "We'd be grateful to spend the night at your house." I saw realisation and relief cross Rose's face as she realised that she wouldn't have to live in a cave for the next little while.

Before we were led to the place we would be staying, the 'community' felt it important to get to know us. I kept silent most of the time, unless a question was directed at me, but Rose and Sydney handled most of them.

The conversation was starting to get a little uncomfortable as people started to ask, how exactly, we had killed Queen Tatiana.

Fortunately, the woman who had spoken earlier joined us and led us away, all the while speaking to the group.

"Enough. It's getting late and I'm sure our guests are hungry."

Right on cue, I heard Rose's stomach rumble ever so slightly and a small smile graced my lips at the normality. No matter changed in our lives, Rose seemed to always stay the same.

The woman introduced herself as Sarah and led us down another path, similar to the one we had walked earlier.

As we were walking, Sarah turned to Sydney.

"Did you bring us anything?" she asked. I was intrigued. It must be some form of tradition.

"No," Sydney answered. "I'm just here to escort them."

"An important task," Sarah nodded.

"How long has it been since my people brought you anything?" Sydney asked her.

Sarah thought about her answer. "A few months."

Sydney looked a little troubled at this but didn't say anything.

I wondered why Sarah had asked Sydney this. I made a mental note to ask her when I got the chance.

We walked in silence as Sarah led us to a larger hut-like house. It was better than nothing and there had obviously been _some _effort put in to building it.

It was dark inside and Sarah lit one of those old-fashioned lanterns. I remembered Yeva, my grandmother having one of them in her room when I was young. She had never lit it though, there was no need to when we had electricity.

Pain engulfed once more as I thought of my family and all of the happy memories I had with them. They didn't know that I had been changed back…and I wasn't ready for them to know. They were much better off thinking I was dead.

Sarah nodded to one of the doors leading out of the kitchen/dining room, bringing me back to reality.

"You can sleep in the girls' room," she said.

"Thanks," Rose said, not looking entirely sure that she was thankful.

"Are you Raymond's housekeeper?" Rose asked Sarah.

I had always quite admired Rose's boldness…but I wasn't sure in this case. I was pretty sure Keepers didn't have housekeepers.

"I'm his wife," she answered but she smiled at her.

"Oh," was all Rose replied and I suppressed the urge to smile.

Sydney warned Rose with her eyes not to put her foot in her mouth again and to just keep quiet. I silently agreed that this was probably best.

A human married to a Moroi? I couldn't comprehend it.

Where Rose and I came from, it was unheard of. It had happened in the very beginning of time; that was how our race had been created in the first place. But things had changed since then, and human-Moroi relationships were unheard of.

Raymond entered the door of the 'house' with two children and a young woman, who looked a little older than Sydney and Rose, and a young male, who looked to be the same age as them.

We were introduced to the newcomers.

"I'm putting them in your room," Sarah told the young woman who had been introduced as Paulette. "The rest of you can share the loft."

Even though I disagreed with their ways, I immediately felt bad for putting them out of their rooms.

We don't want to inconvenience you," I said to them, speaking up at last. "We'll be fine out here." I said, indicating the living area.

"Don't worry about it," the young boy about Rose's age said, smiling at her. He had introduced himself as Joshua. "We don't mind. Angeline won't either."

"Who?" Rose asked the question that had popped into my head.

"My sister." He said. Now I felt really bad; there were even more of them.

"Thank you," said Sydney. "We appreciate it. And we really won't be staying long."

"Too bad," the Joshua boy said. I felt like hitting him for some reason.

"Stop flirting, Josh," Sarah scolded him. "Do you three want something to eat before bed? I could warm up some stew. We had it earlier with some of Paulette's bread."

"No need," Rose jumped in quickly; making me wonder was she was not eager to eat for once. "I'd just be fine with bread."

"Me too," I said. I didn't want to cause them any more trouble than we already had.

They showed us to our room and brought in a loaf of bread along with a bowl of butter.

The room wasn't very big but it would do the three of us for a couple of days.

The Keepers had placed two extra mattresses on the floor with unusually patterned quilts laid neatly on top.

"It reminds me of some of the designs I saw in Russia," Rose said, running her hand across the designs on one of the quilts.

I looked at the detail threads that ran throughout the thick duvet.

"Similar," I told her. "But not quite the same."

"It's the evolution of the culture," Sydney spoke. "Traditional Russian patterns brought over and eventually fused with a typical Americana patchwork quilt form."

"Um, good to know." Rose said. I almost laughed, knowing that she hadn't a clue what Sydney had just said.

"Are you ready to explain who the hell these people are?" Rose asked Sydney, lowering her voice after looking at the closed door warily.

"The Keepers." Sydney answered her.

"Yeah, I got that. And we're the Tainted. Sounds like a better name for Strigoi."

"No, Strigoi are the Lost." Sydney explained to her. "You're the Tainted because you joined the modern world and left behind their backward ways for your own messed up customs."

"Hey," Rose said unhappily, her voice getting slightly louder. "We're not the ones with overalls and banjos."

"Rose," I warned her, giving a pointed look at the door. If we wanted to stay it was so important to not insult them – especially when it came to their customs and way of life. "Be careful. And besides, we only saw one person in overalls."

"If it makes you feel better, I think your ways are better." Sydney said. "Seeing humans mixing with all this…It's disgusting. No offense."

"None taken," Rose replied. "Trust me, I feel the same way. I can't believe…I can't believe they live like that." She said sounded shocked.

Sydney nodded along in agreement. I just watched them; it was strange to see them actually agree on something for the first time. "I like you guys sticking with your own kind better. Except…" Sydney trailed, looking a little apprehensive to finish her sentence.

"Except what?" Rose asked her.

"Even if the people you come from don't marry humans, you do still interact with them and live in their cities. These guys don't."

"Which Alchemists prefer," I guessed. "You don't approve of this group's customs, but you do like having them conveniently stashed out of mainstream society."

Sydney nodded to me.

"The more vampires who stay off on their own in the woods, the better – even if their lifestyle is crazy. These guys keep to themselves – and keep others out."

"Through hostile means?" Rose asked her.

"Hopefully not too hostile," she replied.

"They let you through," I said to her. "They know the Alchemists. Why did Sarah ask about you bringing them things?"

"Because that's what we do," she answered. "Every so often for groups like these, we drop of supplies – food for everyone, medicine for the humans. The thing is, if Sarah's right, they could be due for an Alchemist visit. That would just be our luck to be here when that happens."

I could see the dilemma. The best we could hope for was that we'd get lucky and that the Alchemists would show up while we were still here.

"Wait," Rose said, thinking over what Sydney had just said. "You said 'groups like these.' How many of these commune things are out there?" Rose turned to me. "This isn't like the Alchemists, is it? Something only some of you know about that you're keeping from the rest of us?"

I shook my head, confirming what she had said. "I'm as astonished by all of this as you are."

"Some of your leaders probably know about the Keepers in a vague way," Sydney said, "But no details. No locations. These guys hide themselves pretty well and can move on a moment's notice. They stay away from your people. They don't like your people."

Rose sighed quietly. "Which is why they won't turn us in. And why they're so excited I might have killed Tatiana. Thanks for that, by the way."

"It gets us protection. Such as it is." Sydney said and then tried to cover a yawn. "But for now? I'm exhausted." She looked it. "I'm not going to be able to follow anyone's crazy plans – yours or Abe's – if I don't get some sleep."

I wasn't sure how Rose wanted to do this. I would offer to look over them both if she wanted to get some sleep like Sydney. Whatever we decided, I wasn't going to leave them unguarded in such a strange place that we knew next to nothing about.

I looked at Rose and she looked at me to form a plan.

"Shifts?" She suggested.

I nodded, deciding that this was probably the best way; this way we could all get some sleep _and _stay protected.

"You go first, and I'll-" I was cut off by the door being flung open.

I leapt up, as did Rose, ready to attack.

A young dhampir stood in the doorway, glaring at us. She looked about fifteen…and extremely pissed off.

"So, you're the big heroes taking my room."

"Angeline?" Rose guessed.

She narrowed her eyes at Rose. "Yes."

She studied Rose and then moved to me. She looked very suspicious.

"I don't believe it," she stated, looking back at Rose. "You're too soft. Too prim."

If I had to pick one word to describe Rose…prim would be one of the last words to ever enter my head.

"Looks are deceiving," Rose said, shrugging her shoulders and pretending not to look bothered about being called 'soft'. I could see the anger hidden in her eyes though.

"Yes, they are." Angeline replied, glaring at Rose. She then stalked over to an old chest in the corner and pulled out some nightclothes. "You better not mess up my bed," she warned Rose. "I don't care what you do to Paulette's." she said to Sydney.

"Is Paulette you sister?" Rose asked her.

Personally, I didn't see how this could offend anyone. But then again, I wasn't used to their ways.

"Of course not," she said and slammed the door angrily when she left.

Rose stared after her in ashtonishment.

Sydney yawned and lay down on one of the beds. "Paulette is probably Raymond's…eh, I don't know. Mistress. Concubine."

"What?" Rose exclaimed. I was just as taken aback as she was. "Living with his family?"

"Don't ask me to explain it. I don't want to know any more about your twisted ways than I have to."

"It's not my way," Rose said defensively.

Sydney said no more and got settled for bed. Sarah came in shortly and apologised for her daughter's behaviour. We assured her we were fine and thanked her. She left us shortly after that to get some rest.

Rose and I decided that I would take first watch while she got some sleep.

She snuggled into the bed, and before long, both she and Sydney were asleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

As soon as I was on my own, I let my thoughts about my family travel back to me. I felt pain and for the first time in days, I embraced it.


	9. Chapter 9

**I wasn't going to update this tonight because I have lots of homework which includes writing a story (which I love), But I have to write it in Irish (which I don't love) :/ **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy it and thank you to those who did review :)**

**Chapter 9**

I sat there for a long time, just listening.

Listening for what, I wasn't sure. Danger? I doubted it. Not in a place surrounded by Dhampirs, unless the danger happened to be coming from these Dhampirs themselves. I didn't believe it would; but there was no way I'd risk Roses and Sydney's lives because of carelessness.

After about an hour, and the sounds from the other rooms in the house died away as everyone went to bed, I let myself relax slightly.

The memories I had been pushing away from my mind engulfed me. I couldn't feel any of the newly-discovered feelings that I had felt over the last few days. All I felt was pain.

I wanted to shove my fist through the wall, or break something just to feel something other than this mental grief…even if it was physically pain.

I looked up when I heard a sigh.

I realised it had come from Rose. For a moment I thought she had woken, and I struggled to reel in my emotions. On closer inspection however, I realised that she was still asleep.

I watched her for a while. She made no other sounds, no movements. I just took in the image of her hair, framing her face around the pillow.

I watched the steady rise and fall of her chest and she took in deep, calming breaths. Without realising it, I had slowed my breathing to match hers and felt some of my anger and hurt slowly and gently slip away.

Her right hand twitched slightly and a frown appeared in between her eyebrows. It made me wonder what she was dreaming about.

The frown only got deeper and more pronounced in her features as time went on, and I had an unusual urge to go over to her and smooth it out.

An hour or two later however, the crease on her forehead disappeared and her face relaxed into its previous state.

I left her sleeping for an extra half an hour, before moving to her side and gently waking her up, not wanting to startle her.

Surprisingly, she got up no problem and moved to sit near the door. I climbed into the already brilliantly warm bed, and suddenly felt the exhaustion in my eyes and body.

Not unsurprisingly, I fell asleep within a minute.

I slept for what only felt like an hour, before Rose tapped me shoulder in an attempt to wake me up.

I shot up into a sitting position, unsure if there was a major reason that she had woken me up, or if it was just time.

"Easy," she said, smiling in amusement at my reaction. "Just a wakeup call. Sounds like our redneck friends are getting up."

I looked outside at the well-risen sun.

There was movement on the opposite side of the room and I noticed Sydney stirring.

"What time is it?" she asked, yawning and stretching at the same time.

"Not sure," Rose answered her. "Probably past midday. Three? Four?"

I would've guessed around the same, based on the sun's position in the sky.

Sydney shot up. "In the afternoon?" she exclaimed. "Damn you guys and your unholy schedule."

"Did you just say 'damn'? Isn't that against Alchemist rules?" Rose teased her.

"Sometimes it's necessary." Sydney retorted, trying to waken herself up properly by rubbing her eyes.

I could now hear what Rose had obviously heard when she had chosen to wake me up, only it was louder now. I could hear the sound of people cooking and talking to the kitchen area.

"I guess we need a plan," Sydney said, not too loudly.

"We have one. Find Lissa's sibling." Rose said to her.

"I never entirely agreed to that," she replied. "And you guys keep thinking I can just magically type away like some movie hacker to find all your answers."

"Well, at least it's a place to-" Rose cut herself off. "Crap. Your laptop won't even work out here."

The thought hadn't occurred to me until she had said it.

"It's got a satellite modem, but it's the battery we have to worry about." Sydney stood up and straightened out her clothes. "I need a coffee shop or something."

I had to admit, coffee sounded better than good right about now.

"I think I saw one in a cave down the road," I felt a smile almost reach my lips at her joke.

"There's got to be some town close by where I could use my laptop."

I joined the conversation at her thought.

"But it's probably not a good idea to take the car out anywhere in this state," I told them both but directed it at Sydney. "Just in case someone at the motel got your license plate number."

"I know," she replied. "I was thinking about that too."

There was a knock at the door and the three of us turned to it. Sarah's face peeked in.

"Oh, good. You're all awake. We'll be getting breakfast ready if you want to join us."

We thanked her and she left. We joined her soon after.

"Good morning," Raymond greeted us with a smile. "I hope you're all hungry."

As a matter of fact, I _was _hungry. It was a strange feeling; I was still getting used to the whole eating thing.

"Do you think that's, like, real bacon?" Rose leaned over and whispered. "And not like squirrel or something?"

"Looks real to me," I answered her truthfully.

"I'd say so too," Sydney whispered back. "Though, I guarantee it's from their own pigs and not a grocery store."

A look of horror crossed Rose's face.

I laughed at her. "I always love seeing what worries you. Strigoi? No. Questionable food? Yes.

It slipped out of my mouth unconsciously. What had I just said?

I have always_ loved?_

Love?

I didn't have time to contemplate my own words and thoughts when the annoying Joshua kid and his sister Angeline entered the house.

"What about Strigoi?" Angeline asked us.

"Just talking about some of Rose's Strigoi kills," I covered for Rose, not wanting her to be put in the awkward situation of explaining to them why she was not exactly comfortable eating their food.

The boy stopped mid-movement and stared at Rose in awe.

"You've killed the Lost? Er-Strigoi? How many?" He asked.

Rose shrugged. "I don't really know anymore."

I felt something very close to pride well up in my chest. Yes, Rose had killed more Strigoi than was countable.

"Don't you use the marks?" Raymond asked. "I didn't think the Tainted had abandoned those."

"The marks-oh. Yeah. Our tattoos? We do." Rose said and lifted her hair to show the back of her neck. I felt that pride come back when she showed them her many kills.

Before I realised what he was doing, Joshua had moved forward to touch the marks on Rose's neck. Rose felt the finger on her neck and abruptly turned around. I understood her not wanting him to touch them. Most guardians did. These marks were badges of honour, yes, but they were also full of pain. Especially for Rose. She had earned her first marks on the same day one of her best friends had been killed.

Joshua lowered his hand and apologised. "I've just never seen some of these. Only the molnija marks. That's how we count our Strigoi kills. You've got…a lot."

Rose _did _have a lot. More than most guardians would _ever _get. And she had a long way to go before she was finished.

"The S-shaped mark is unique to them." Raymond explained. "The other's the zvezda."

Joshua and his sister both gasped at this. They obviously knew what it meant. Rose did not.

"What?" she asked.

"The battle mark," I explained to her. "Not many people call it zvezda anymore. It means 'star.'"

"Huh," she said. "Makes sense."

"Now I understand how you could have killed the Tainted queen." Joshua said to Rose.

"It's probably fake," Angeline said.

"It is not!" Indignation crossed Rose's face. It was also the first time I'd ever heard anyone doubt Rose's skill before. "I earned it when Strigoi attacked our school. And then there were plenty more I took down after that."

"The mark can't be that uncommon." I said to the room. "Your people must have big Strigoi fights every once in a while."

"Not really," Joshua said, still looking at Rose, looking absolutely star struck by her. "Most of us have never fought or even see the Lost. They don't really bother us."

I was a little surprised by this information. It would make sense that Strigoi would prefer to target a group of Moroi, dhampirs and human in the middle of nowhere.

"Why not?" Rose asked.

Raymond winked at her. "Because we fight back."

I suppose I could see the entire 'community' defending each other from a Strigoi should the need arrive, but apparently, Strigoi didn't come near them too often. It sort of reminded me of my own family. They lived in a small dhampir commune where everyone knew each other and almost everything about their lives; Strigoi didn't bother them too often either.

The conversation moved on as the family sat down to eat.

I zoned out as the conversation went on and started eating my breakfast. I savoured each taste and texture; it was like being born again and learning everything all over again.

I noticed Sydney had been silent and didn't look like she was listening to the conversation.

"We need some supplies," Sydney said abruptly, causing an interruption to one of Rose's many stories. She didn't seem to mind. "Where's the nearest town that would have a coffee shop…or any restaurant?" she asked them.

"Well," Paulette said. "Rubysville is a little over an hour north. But we have plenty of food here for you."

"It's not about food," Rose jumped in. "Yours has been great." I mentally scoffed at her lie.

"An hour's not so bad, right?" Rose asked Sydney. She looked so eager to get out of this place for a couple of hours. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to get out of here either.

Sydney nodded at her. "Is there any way…is there any way we could borrow a car?" she asked Raymond. "I'll…I'll leave the keys to mine until we get back."

"You've got a nice car," Raymond stated, raising his eyebrow.

"The less we drive it around here, the better." She said.

The three of us were told to take Raymond's truck, and we decided to leave very soon after that. I didn't want to still be out in the dark in case of any lurking Strigoi so the sooner we left, the sooner we'd arrive back.

The Joshua kid walked with us to the truck.

"I hope you won't be gone long," he said to Rose. "I'd wanted us to talk more."

Poor kid. He was so love struck by her.

"Sure," Rose answered him. "That'd be fun."

"Maybe I can show you my cave." He said to her. I nearly tripped myself up.

"Your-wait. What? Don't you live with your dad?" she asked him.

"For now. But I'm getting my own place." He said proudly. "It's not as big as his, of course, but it's a good start. It's almost cleaned out."

"That's really, um, great." Definitely show me when we're back."

I felt my eyebrows furrow. What was she doing? She was with Adrian…and we were on the run! I couldn't understand why she was leading him on like that…unless, she didn't actually _like _him...did she?

Joshua left us shortly before we reached the truck, and after discussing with Sydney who would drive, we were on the road.

"You shouldn't lead him on like that," I said after about ten minutes.

"Huh?"

"Joshua. You were flirting with him." I said, trying to figure out if she was interested in him the same way he was most definitely in her.

"I was not! We were just talking." Rose replied indignantly.

"Aren't you with Adrian?" I asked her, knowing full well that she was.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. I could see her glaring at me but pretended not to notice. "And that's why I wasn't flirting. How can you read so much into that? Joshua doesn't even like me that way."

"Actually," Sydney leaned forward from the backseat. "He does."

Rose turned to her. "How do you know? Did he pass you a note in class or something?"

"No. But you and Dimitri are like gods back at camp."

"We're outsiders," Rose reminded her. "Tainted."

"No. You're renegade Strigoi – and queen-killers. It might have all been southern charm and hospitality back there, but those people can be savage." She told us. "They put a big premium on being able to beat people up. And, considering how scruffy most of them are, you guys are…well…let's just say you two are the hottest things to walk through there in a while."

I almost laughed in surprise. That was definitely not the first thing that crossed my mind when I wondered what the Keepers thought of us.

"You're not hot?" Rose asked Sydney.

"It's irrelevant," Sydney replied, looking uncomfortable. "Alchemist's aren't even on their radar. We don't fight. They think we're weak."

"Raymond's family was pretty good-lucking," Rose said, causing me to grunt in annoyance. She was no doubt thinking about Joshua, despite her earlier words about not flirting with him.

"Yeah," Sydney continued. "Because they're probably the most important family in town. They eat better, they probably don't have to work in the sun as much. That kind of stuff makes a difference."

We drove the rest of the way to Rubysville without saying another word about flirting. We reached the small quiet town within one hour.

"Pull into that gas station and I'll ask them for directions." Sydney instructed me, gesturing to the tiny station on the side of the pot-hole filled road.

I pulled up and didn't bother turning the engine off as Sydney ran inside. She came back and gave me directions to the nearest café while she clicked her seatbelt back into place.

When we got there, Sydney brought her laptop inside and ordered coffee. The three of us just sat in silence as Sydney waited for her laptop to start up. I noticed the waitress giving Rose and I dirty looks – probably for not ordering anything, so I thought it would be best if we left Sydney to work in peace.

Rose and I strolled through the quiet town. We were both silent, and I noticed her taking in the scenery all around us. It occurred to me that she may not have ever seen scenery like this; she had grown up in a place that was surrounded by mountains, hills and more mountains.

"Or any place," Rose murmured quietly to herself.

"Hmm?" I asked her.

"I was just thinking about if the guardians find us. I never realised how much there was I wanted to do and see. Suddenly, that's all at stake, you know?" She said to me.

I did know.

"Okay, suppose my name isn't cleared and we never find the real murderer. What's the next-best-case scenario? Me: always running, always hiding. That'll be my life. For all I know, I will have to go live with the Keepers."

"I don't think it'll come to that," I told her, wanting so much to tell her that I would never let that happen. I was positive that we would find the real murderer and Rose would finally be free to live her life the way she wanted to.

"Abe and Sydney would help you find some place safe."

"Is there a safe place? For real? Adrian said the guardians are increasing their efforts to find us. They've got the Alchemists and probably human authorities looking for us too. No matter where we go, we'll run the risk of being spotted. Then we'll have to move on. It'll be like that forever." She said.

I understood her point, but it was better than being dead.

"You'll be alive," I said to her. "That's what matters. Enjoy what you have, every little detail of wherever you are. Don't focus on where you aren't."

I really wasn't sure if I was still talking to her, or if I was telling myself.

"Yeah," she said. "I suppose I shouldn't whine over the dream places I won't get to see. I should be grateful I get to see anything at all. And that I'm not living in a cage."

I felt my mood lighten considerably. I realised that I missed this. I missed spending time with her and just talking to her.

I smiled at her. "Where do you want to go?" I realised that in the time that we'd known each other, we'd never talked about the cities and countries that we wanted to see.

"What, right now?" she asked, looking around the almost-empty town.

"No, in the world," I specified.

She gave me a funny look.

"Sydney's going to be pissed if we take off for Istanbul or something."

I burst out laughing.

"Not what I had in mind. Come on." I got an idea and led her to the small building I had spotted a few minutes ago.

"Woah, hey," Rose said, stopping in her tracks when she noticed where we were headed. "One of the few perks of graduating was avoiding places like this."

"It's probably air conditioned," I pointed out, drawing attention to the fact that we were both drenched in sweat from the heat.

"Lead on," she said after inspecting herself.

I was right about the air conditioning and felt relief as soon as we entered the building. The library was small; smaller than any I'd ever been too.

I looked at the signs indicating which section was which and made my way to the one that said _travel_. Rose followed silently behind me.

I felt disappointed when I got there. I was hoping for a lot more than just one shelf.

"Not quite what I expected." I looked back and over along the row and pulled out the one that looked most interesting. It was a large, bright-coloured book entitled '100 Best Places to Visit in the World.'

I settled myself, sitting cross-legged, on the floor. Rose copied me, and I handed her the book when she had settled herself.

"No way, comrade." She shook her head. "I know books are a journey of the imagination, but I don't think I'm up for that today."

"Just take it. Close your eyes, and flip randomly to a page."

She just looked at me for a moment before taking the book out of my hands and doing what I said. I watched her close her eyes and flip open a page.

"Mitchell, South Dakota?" she exclaimed loudly. She quietened her voice remembering where we were…not that it mattered, we were the only ones here anyway. "Out of all the places in the world, that makes the top hundred?"

I grinned at her. She was right of course. How South Dakota made the cut baffled me.

"Read it," I told her.

"Located ninety minutes outside of Sioux Falls, Mitchell is home to the Corn Palace." She looked up from the book in disbelief. "Corn Palace?"

I scooted my body over next to hers, intrigued.

"I figured it'd be made of corn husks," I said, studying the pictures.

"Me too," she said. "I'd visit it. I bet they have great T-shirts."

I shot her a sly look, thinking of our earlier conversation. "And, I bet no guardians would look for us there." I teased her.

It was Rose's turn to burst out laughing, not caring if we got in trouble…which we did, by the very annoyed librarian.

As I went to take the book back off her to take my own turn, I took a deep breath and smelled a scent that could only be described in one word.

Rose.

Her scent felt familiar and comforting to me, like it always had, but this time intensified.

I took my own turn with the book and opened my eyes.

Sao Paolo, Brazil. Rose took another turn. Honolulu, Hawaii.

We kept passing the book back and forth, laughing at some of the strange ones we got, and imagining some of the more amazing ones.

Rose lay down on her stomach on the ground and I copied her, both of us getting more comfortable.

"Florence, Italy," Rose read. "Sydney wants to go there. She wanted to study there, actually. If Abe could have managed that, I think she would have served him for life."

"She's still pretty obedient," I said. "I don't know her well, but I'm pretty sure Abe's got something on her."

"He got her out of Russia, back to the U.S."

I shook my head. I hadn't given it much thought, but it had entered my mind. "It's got to be more than that. Alchemists are loyal to their order. They don't like us. She hides it – they're trained to – but every minute with the Keepers is agony." I remembered her glumness this afternoon at breakfast. "For her to help us and betray her superiors, she owes him for some serious reason."

We both thought for a moment before I remembered that it wasn't any of my business. That was between Abe and Sydney. _My _business, was making sure Rose was kept safe and out of harm.

"It's irrelevant, though." I broke the silence. "She's helping us, which is what matters…and we should probably get back to her."

I hated saying the words. As much as I denied it initially, I missed spending time with Rose. Just the two of us: no complications, no danger.

Rose looked reluctant to leave as well. "One more."

I looked away and slipped my hand into a random page. I pulled the book open.

I felt the smile that had been on my face slide off.

"Saint Petersburg."

My heart ached when I thought about all the memories there. Most of which were with my family when I was growing up. My home. There was a strong chance that I wouldn't get to see the place again. Not the same way. I was a fugitive now; I wouldn't be able to walk the streets without the fear of getting caught.

I felt a soft nudge in my side. "Hey, enjoy where you're at, remember? Not where you can't go." She threw my own words back at me.

She was completely right.

I shut the book along with it's oh so familiar pictures, and looked away.

"How'd you get so wise?" I teased her.

"I had a good teacher."

I smiled at her and felt my heart jump a little when she smiled back. I ignored it and concentrated on what she was asking me.

"Is that why you escaped with me? To see what parts of the world you could?"

Surprise hit me again as she once again, guessed something about me that nobody had before.

"You don't need me to be wise, Rose. You're doing just fine on your own. Yes, that was part of it. Maybe I would have been welcomed back eventually, but there was a risk I wouldn't. After…after being Strigoi…" I could make the words flow smoothly from my mouth. "I gained a new appreciation for life. It took a while. I'm still not there." I admitted. "We're talking about focusing on the present, not the future – but it's my past that haunts me. Faces. Nightmares. But the farther I get from that world of death, the more I want to embrace life. The smell of these books and the perfume you wear. The way the light bends through that window. Even the taste of breakfast with the Keepers." I opened up to her, surprising even myself a little.

"You're a poet now." She said.

"No, just starting to realise the truth. I respect the law and the way our society runs, but there was no way I could risk losing life in some cell after only just finding it again. I wanted to run too. That's why I helped you. That and –"

I cut myself off, shocked at what I had been just about to say.

"What?" she asked me, looking at me closely.

I pulled myself up off the ground.

"It doesn't matter. Let's go back to Sydney and see if she found out anything…although, as much as I hate to say it, I think it's unlikely." I admitted.

"I know," Rose agreed and rose from the ground as well. "She probably gave up and started playing Minesweeper."

The two of us walked side by side back to Sydney. We did however stop at the ice cream place I had noticed Rose eyeing earlier.

We sun was started to lower itself and I was getting a little anxious to get moving.

When we got back to the café, Sydney was still on her laptop. We sat down beside her.

"How's it – hey! You are playing Minesweeper!" Rose exclaimed, peering at the screen. "You're supposed to be finding a connection to Eric's mistress."

"I already did," Sydney replied. I felt astonishment. Rose's face reflected the same emotion when I looked at her.

"But I don't know how useful it'll be," she continued.

"Anything'll be useful," Rose said. "What did you find?"

"After trying to track down all those bank records and transactions – and let me tell you, that is not fun at all – I finally found a small piece of info. The bank account we have now is a newer one. It was moved from another bank about five years ago. The old account was still a Jane Doe, but it did have a next-of-kin reference in the event something happened to the account holder." She explained.

"A real name?" Rose asked, looking like she was holding her breath.

Sydney nodded.

"Sonya Karp."

**AN – I don't know about anyone else, but the library scene is one of my favourite scenes in Last Sacrifice – anyone else's favourite? Apart from the hotel scene of course ;)**

**Also, anyone else read Foretold? I'd love to have someone to talk to about it :P I'm thinking of doing Foretold from Dimitri's POV but I'll wait a while so that everyone gets a chance to read it first :) if you haven't read it – get your hands on the book and read Homecoming! :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

I wasn't sure who was more shocked, me or Rose.

Sydney gave us a humourless smile.

"I take it you know who that is?" she asked us.

"Of course," Rose exclaimed. "She was my teacher. She went crazy and turned Strigoi."

"I know," Sydney nodded.

If it was possible, Rose looked even more shocked. "She's not…She's not the one who had an affair with Lissa's dad, is she?"

I tried to do the math in my head. If my calculations were correct, Sonya Karp would have been too young.

"Not likely," Sydney replied. "The account was opened several years before she was added as the beneficiary – which was right when she turned eighteen. So, if we're assuming the account was created around the time the baby was born, then she would have been way too young. Sonya's probably a relative."

As the shock wore away, I felt excitement well up in me. We now had a proper lead.

"You must have records about her family," I said to her. "Or if not, some Moroi probably does. Who's close to Sonya? Does she have a sister?"

Sydney shook her head. "No. That'd be an obvious choice, though. Unfortunately, she has other family – tons of it. Her parents both came from giant families, so she has lots of cousins. Even some of her aunts are the right age."

"We can look them up, right?" Rose asked, just asked elevated as I was from this news.

"There's a lot of them," Sydney said. "I mean, yeah, we could. It'd take a long time to find everyone's life history, and even then – especially if this was covered up enough – we'd have a hard time finding out if any of them is the woman we're looking for. Or even if any of them know who she is."

An idea had been forming in my head as she spoke. It wasn't a plan I was particularly keen on, and it would involve purposefully bringing up those painful memories…but this was something I had to do.

"One person knows who Jane Doe is."

Both of the girl's heads turn to look at me for a further explanation.

"Sonya Karp," I said.

Rose threw her hands in the air, not getting what I was saying.

"Yeah, but we can't talk to her. She's a lost cause. Mikhail Tanner spent over a year hunting her and couldn't find her. If he can't, then we're not going to be able to."

I turned and stared at the window, making sure one last time that I would be able to do this. Could I relive my Strigoi days? Could I be that cold and evil that I once was? Even if it was only for a while.

Yes. Yes I could. I owed this to Rose. And to Lissa.

I pulled myself together and turned back to face them once again.

"That's because Mikhail didn't have the right connections."

"Mikhail was her boyfriend," Rose said, feeling the need to remind me. "He had more connections than anyone else."

My mind flicked back to when Rose had come to Russia in search of me, just like Mikhail had for Sonya. The only difference in their stories was, Mikhail had never found Sonya.

I pulled myself together once again.

"Does your phone have reception out here?" I asked Sydney.

She nodded and handed me her phone.

I stared at the small device in my hand, trying to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to do.

When I was ready, I stood up and left the café.

I dialled the number I knew off by heart and held the phone to my ear, just as Rose walked out the front door, closely followed by Sydney.

I didn't really want Rose to be here to witness or hear this conversation, but I didn't have a choice. She deserved to know.

I took deep breaths while listening carefully to the ringing tone. Finally, he answered.

"Boris?" I asked.

"Where are you?" I switched to Russian and lowered my voice, making it as menacing as I could.

Boris answered me with one word. "Moscow."

"Moscow, _what?" _I growled at him.

"Moscow, sir." He corrected himself.

I hated myself…but this wasn't the time for self-loathing.

"What are you doing there?"

"Snacking, sir," he replied.

"Snacking? _Snacking? _You're supposed to be looking after everything while I'm away?"

"Belikov, what was I supposed to do? You've been gone for weeks."

"Are you questioning my authority? Are you?" I all but shouted into the phone.

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean it. I haven't eaten in days.

I lowered my voice from its anger-induced tone.

"Boris, I need you to do something. I need you to find me a Sonya Karp from Montana. Call Dracis and tell him to find her for me." I ordered him, not at all nicely.

"I'm not sure I can still get in contact with Dracis, sir." He sounded nervous.

"You will do what I say, and find him!" I got angry once again. I could practically see Boris wincing. "And if you don't, I will personally take care of you…and it won't be quick, or painless. I want answers by tomorrow night. Find them, or I will hunt you down and rip you apart, body part by body part. Then I will watch you slowly burn to death."

I hung up before he could say another word and held Sydney's phone out in the direction in which she was standing.

I felt the pain engulf me once again, the happy feelings I had with Rose in the library vanished. I couldn't look at her. I couldn't look at the scared or hurt look on her face at the monster I was.

I closed my eyes and worked on my breathing.

In and out. In and out.

When I could handle it, I turned to face them.

"I've sent someone to ask about her," I said, feeling exhausted. "It might not work out. Strigoi are hardly the type to keep a database. But they do occasionally keep an eye on one another, if only for their own self-preservation. We'll find out soon if there are any hits."

"I…wow. Thank you," Rose said, stumbling over her words.

I nodded, acknowledging her words before changing the subject.

"We should get back to the Keepers…unless you think this is a safe place to stay?"

"I'd rather stay off civilised radar," Sydney replied, already heading towards our truck. "Besides, I want my keys back."

I drove back. It might not have been the best…or safest idea, given my current feelings and mood, but I did my best to concentrate on the road in front of me and not crash the loaned truck.

We arrived back and made our way back along the path. I saw a big fire blazing and people sitting around it, chatting and socialising.

We walked straight back to the house we were staying in.

Joshua's face lit up when he saw Rose. I mentally rolled my eyes. How could Rose not have noticed how head over heels this guy was for her? It was a lot funnier now that I knew that Rose's feelings weren't mutual.

"Rose! You're back. We were starting to worry…I mean, not that anything had happened to you – not with your skills – but that maybe you'd just left us."

"Not without our car," Sydney said, handing the truck keys back, and picking up her own keys which had been left on the countertop.

We were offered some leftovers from dinner, but the three of us had declined; Rose had insisted that we stock up on food from the gas station. I had rolled my eyes at her at first, but couldn't help but be glad when I looked at the food I was being offered that looked oddly like some kind of raw meat.

"Well, if you're not going to eat, you might as well join the others out at the fire. Jess McHale might sing tonight if they can get her to drink enough, and drunk or sober, that woman has the finest voice I've ever heard."

In all honesty, all I wanted to do was be by myself and let out my anger and pain. I met Rose's and Sydney's eyes. Rose looked like she kind of wanted to go. Sydney also looked unsure but then said that she would.

"I'll go too," I said. I had to protect them. Both of them. My need to protect felt ten times as strong as it had this morning.

"Do you still want to see my cave?" Joshua asked Rose. "There's a little light left outside. You'll get a better view that way than if we have to use a torch."

I didn't want her to go with him.

That was the very first thought that entered my head after the boy spoke.

She wouldn't, would she?

"Sure," she said. Yes she would. "I'd love to."

I watched the two of them as they left my sight.

I felt a new kind of upset. One that felt completely new to me.

I passed it off as nerves for Rose as she went off on her own. I reminded myself that Rose was more than capable of protecting herself should she need to.

But the feeling didn't go away.

I turned my attention to Sydney, wanting to make sure she felt safe. She looked a little nervous and kept glancing in the direction Rose had gone.

I guided her to a bench made out of a tree's branch near the group who were singing and clapping.

We sat in silence and watched the group's activities, tension rolling off both of us in Rose's presence. I couldn't help myself from also glancing around in search of her every couple of minutes.

After what felt like hours, I felt Sydney sigh in relief and I turned to watch Rose emerge from the trees with Joshua. She said something to Joshua and he nodded at her and they went separate ways.

I looked back at the fire as she made her way towards us.

Suddenly, I heard a thump coming from that generally direction, and what I saw when I looked up was that Angeline girl's fist connecting with Rose's cheekbone.

I jumped up to help her when I felt arms clasp around my arms.

"It's ok." A man's voice said in my ear. "It's tradition. If a man from our tribe wants to marry a woman, it's custom that the man's sister fights her to see if she is worry."

My adrenaline slowed down as realisation hit me. I watched Rose stay on the defensive while Angeline was strictly offensive. I felt a smile creep its way onto my face as his words fully registered with me. _Marry?_

Oh Rose, I smirked to myself.

I watched as Rose dodged punch after punch with expertise. It was amazing how much she had improved in less than a year.

"Are you insane?" Rose exclaimed, dodging yet another attack. "Stop this. I don't want to hurt you."

"Sure," Angeline replied. "That's what you want everyone to think, right? If you don't actually have to fight, they'll all go on believing those marks are real."

Ouch. If there was one way to ruffle Rose's feathers, it was to question her skills.

"They are real!" I saw the anger in her eyes spike up, but I also saw all of the effort she was putting in to control it.

"Prove it," Angeline said. "Prove you're who you say you are."

People around us started grumbling and getting impatience at the lack of punches from Rose's side of things.

"I don't have to prove anything," Rose said. In all honesty, I felt awe at the amount of control she was sporting now. If this fight had taken place at the academy 6 months ago, Angeline would be on the ground right now, no doubt unconscious with perhaps a few broken bones thrown in there.

"It's a lie then." She was really asking for it now. "Everything you Tainted do is a lie."

"Not true," Rose retorted.

"You all lie. You're all weak. Especially your 'royals.' They're the worst of all."

"You don't know them at all. You don't know anything about them."

"I know enough. I know they're selfish and spoiled and don't do anything for themselves. They don't care about anyone else. They're all the same."

I was just waiting for the snap.

"Don't talk about things you don't understand," Rose snapped at her. "They're not all like that."

"They are," Angeline pushed on. "I wish they were all dead."

Angeline got a kick in one Rose's knee and…

Snap.

Rose went on the offensive.

They both landed a few blows on each other; Rose's being more skilled and controlled than Angeline's sloppy ones.

Before Angeline knew what had hit her, Rose tackled her to the ground. Angeline struggled and tried to roll them over but Rose wasn't having it. She sent a punch that landed on Angeline's cheek. Hard.

Rose went to stand up but Angeline reached and grabbed a fistful of Rose's hair and pulled. I saw Sydney wince. I admit, that had to hurt. She was pulled back to the ground by her hair and I saw true anger in Rose's face. She managed to twist out of Angeline's hold and pinned her down. Securely this time.

Angeline twisted and turned but there was absolutely no way she'd get out of Rose's grip now: not after the hair-pulling incident.

Why did these things always seem to happen to Rose?

"Fine," Angeline said, giving up. "I guess it's okay. Go ahead."

"Huh? What's okay?" Rose asked her, the anger still clear in her face.

"It's okay if you marry my brother."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you all for the wonderful response! All of my stories have had a great week – review and view wise – so thank you all! :D**

**Chapter 11**

Much to Rose's dismay, Sydney burst out laughing.

I was also struggling to keep a straight face as Rose's face just stared blankly at Angeline's glum one.

Hours later, the three of us were back in our room after Rose had spent the majority of the time attempting to convince people that she was not engaged to Joshua.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" She said angrily to Sydney, who was sitting on her bed still laughinh.

"You,re right," she replied. "It's not funny. It's hilarious."

"Stop that," she snapped at me. I found the whole thing hilarious. It was funny how Rose always seemed to get caught up in drama.

"I told you not to encourage him," I said, knowing that an 'I told you so' from me would only add to her annoyance.

"Whatever." She said, rubbing her cheek. "You didn't see this coming. You just didn't want me to –" she cut herself off and stopped massaging her sore cheek. I found myself wanting to know what she had been going to say. "Did you know about this custom?" she demanded, looking at Sydney.

"No," she said, letting her laughter die down. "But I'm not surprised. I told you they're savage. A lot of ordinary problems are settled by fights like that."

"It's stupid," Rose grumbled and touched the top of her head, feeling her hair and combing it gently. "Although...she wasn't bad," she admitted grudgingly. "Unpolished, but not bad. Are they all that tough? The humans and Moroi too?" she asked Sydney.

"That's my understanding," Sydney answered.

"And that's why Strigoi don't bother them," Rose said quietly to herself.7

My mood dropped straight back down at the mention of Strigoi. It reminded me of the task I had left Boris.

I should check in with Boris again and see what he's found." I told them. I turned to Sydney, who was now looking my way. "It won't take long. We don't all need to go. Should I just take your car since I only have to go a little ways?"

She shrugged and trusted me enough to hand me her car keys.

"You should go," Rose said suddenly. "I need to check in on Lissa. I can usually still keep track of what's going on around me at the same time, but it might be better if you're away – especially in case the Alchemist's do show up."

I could see that this was not to truth. There was some reason that Rose was lying, but I didn't call her out on it.

"I doubt they'd come while it's dark," Sydney replied. "But I don't really want to hang out if you're just going to stare into space."

After a little arguing, Sydney and I left Rose alone with the Keepers. I knew after the night we had had that I didn't have to worry about Rose being hurt; she had proved to them all that she was more than capable of defending herself.

Sydney and I didn't have to drive for long. We slipped into Sydney's car and drove about fifteen minutes away until Sydney told me her phone had picked up signal. Pulling in at the side of the road, I took the phone out of her extended hand and stood outside the car.

I dialled Boris's number and he answered a lot faster than he had last time.

"Did you get it?" I growled at him.

"Ye- Yes, sir." He replied and read me out the address of Dracis.

I threatened him a little and then said goodbye to him without as much as a 'thank you'. After, I noticed Sydney had also stood outside the car and was watching me. I felt a little comfort from her being there for some reason; it was probably the fact that she hadn't known me when I had been changed, and therefore wasn't reliving any horrible memories like Rose would when she heard me impersonating my Strigoi voice.

Sydney and I didn't speak much on the drive home. When we arrived back, everyone had gone to bed so we walked as silently as we could back to our bedroom.

When we got inside and had closed the door gently behind us, I saw Rose was in the same place we had left her, just staring blankly ahead.

"Rose?" I said. No reaction.

"Rose?" I asked her again, as loud as I could without waking up our fellow residents.

There was still no movement from her.

"God, that's creepy," Sydney whispered, looking at Rose's face, clear of any expression.

I didn't answer her and moved towards Rose gently and calmly, not wanting to scare her. A touch her arm gently.

"Rose?"

She blinked and looked almost surprised to see us standing before her.

She blinked a few more times and got her bearings.

"Hey," she said. "You're back. You called the Strigoi?"

More pain hit me at the mention of Strigoi.

"Yes," I answered her, managing to bear it and answer her.

"Crazy conversation. Some of it was in English. It was even scarier than before."

"But did you find out anything?"

"Boris gave me the name of a Strigoi who knows Sonya and probably knows where she is," I told her. "It's actually someone I've met. But phone calls only go so far with Strigoi. There's no way to contact him – except go in person. Boris only had his address."

"Where is it?" Rose asked me.

"Lexington, Kentucky," I answered her.

"Oh for God's sake," she moaned. "Why not the Bahamas? Or the Corn Palace?"

I struggled to hold in a smile. I would now always think of Rose when I heard of Corn Palace.

"If we leave right now," I said. "We can reach him before morning."

Rose looked around her exaggeratedly.

"Tough choice. Leave all this for electricity and plumbing?" she said sarcastically.

"And no more marriage proposals." Sydney said, grinning at her.

"And we'll probably have to fight Strigoi," I added, knowing that she had already made up her mind.

She stood up quickly from the bed.

"How soon can we go?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry this one's ****very**** short, but it's short in the actual book! Thanks for reading :)**

**-Laurie**

**Chapter 12**

We didn't leave right away however, as the Keepers were all still asleep. The three of us waited up and talked a few hours while waiting for them.

The Keepers had mixed reactions to us leaving. Many had started to get used to us being there and were surprised we were leaving so fast. Most of them were sad that Rose was leaving, after seeing her fight.

We walked down the forest's path, towards Sydney's car. Angeline caught up with Rose and began begging her.

"Take me with you," she said.

"Sorry," Rose replied. "We have to do this alone."

"I can help! You beat me…but you saw what I can do. I'm good. I could take a Strigoi."

"You might be able to," Rose told her, after a small hesitation. "But it's just not possible for you to come with us."

I continued walking with Sydney in front of me as Rose handled the situation.

Sydney and I both reached the car and waited for Rose. She joined us soon after but didn't say a word as we got in the car. I made to go the driver's side but Sydney refused.

I put up a fairly good argument but it was no good - especially after Rose joined in with reasons why she should be allowed to drive too.

We eventually gave up when we realised that our attempts were futile and I sat in the passenger seat while Rose climbed in the back.

In the side mirror, I could see a small sad look on Rose's face in the back but it seemed to disappear the further we got from the Keepers.

I made an agreement with Rose that I would sleep a little, considering we would more than likely be fighting Strigoi later tonight.

Not realising how tired I was, I slept for at least half of the journey. When I woke, I discovered we still had another three hours to go. After checking on Rose, whom I found was checking in with Lissa, I settled for watching the scenery outside of the car as we made our way to Lexington.


	13. Chapter 13

**I decided to upload another chapter as well, seen as though chapter 12 is horrifically short :P **

**Chapter 13**

I started dozing a little again in the passenger seat as we continued our long drive.

I was snapped out of my daze with a jump when Sydney slammed on the breaks.

"Sorry," she said. "That jerk cut me off."

I relaxed back into my seat and looked sideways out the window.

"Where are we?" Rose asked us.

"Outskirts of Lexington," Sydney replied, as she pulled into a small gas station.

She filled up on gas and then typed Donovan's address into her GPS.

"Not a great part of town, from what I hear," I told them. "Donovan runs a tattoo parlour that's only open at night. A couple of other Strigoi work with him. They get partiers, drunk kids…the kind of people that can easily disappear. The kind Strigoi love."

"Seems like the police would eventually notice that every time someone went for a tattoo, they disappeared," Rose said to me.

I laughed, not at all humorously. "Well, the 'funny' thing is that they don't kill everyone who comes in. They actually give tattoos to some of them and let them go." I said, recalling how I laughed when I had been a Strigoi and had first heard this. "They smuggle drugs through the place too."

"You sure know a lot," Rose said, almost carefully, like she thought I knew about the drug smuggling because of personal reasons.

"I made it my business to know a lot, and Strigoi have to keep a roof over their heads too," I replied. "I actually met Donovan once and got most of this straight from the source. I just didn't know where exactly he worked out of until now."

"Okay," she said. "So, we've got the info on him. What do we do with it?"

"Lure him out." I answered her. "Send in a 'customer' with a message from me needing to meet him. I'm not the kind of person he can ignore – well, that he used to not – never mind," I cut myself off. "Once he's out, we get him to a place we choose."

"I can do that." Rose said.

"No," I replied quickly. "You can't." I said carefully. I knew Sydney wouldn't react to what I was going to imply.

"Why not?" Rose asked me.

"Because they'll know you're a dhampir the instant they see you. They'll probably smell it first. No Strigoi would have a dhampir working for him – only humans."

You could cut the awkward silence in the car with a knife as my words sunk in on both of them.

"No!" Sydney exclaimed. "I am not doing that!"

"I don't like it either," I told her, shaking my head. "But we don't have a lot of options." It was true; if there was any other way we could do this, then I would.

"If he thinks you work for me," I continued. "He won't hurt you."

"Yeah? And what happens if he doesn't believe me?" Sydney demanded.

"I don't think he can take the chance," I assured her. "He'll probably go with you to check things out, with the idea that if you're lying, they'll just kill you then."

After I spoke, it crossed my mind that I probably shouldn't have said the last part of that sentence, but then again, she should know the complete truth.

"You can't send her in," Rose said. For a moment I thought she was going to give me grief about letting Sydney go in alone when we should be protecting her. She didn't however. "They'll know she's an Alchemist. One of those wouldn't work for Strigoi either."

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. I thought of some way to get around that obstacle.

Surprisingly, it was Sydney who came up with a solution.

"When I was at the gas station, they had, like, one rack of makeup. We could probably cover up most of my tattoo up with powder."

We drove back to the gas station and I waited in the car while Rose went in with Sydney to get the makeup.

She'd be a lot more help than I would when it came to makeup.

Once Rose had caked enough makeup on to cover Sydney's tattoo and deemed her good enough, we headed off to Donovan's.

We drove around a little bit first, before I saw a back alley close to the parlour. There was a wired fence on one side and a low brick wall on the other. It was a good attacking point. I instructed on what to do and how to act.

"You want to look awed," I said to her. "Humans who serve Strigoi worship them – they're eager to please. Since they're around Strigoi so much, they aren't as startled or terrified. Still a little afraid, of course, but not as much as you look now."

"I really can't help it," She said, gulping.

Surprisingly, Rose hugged her. There had only ever been very few people that Rose hugged. Lissa, Adrian, Eddie, maybe Mason. I think her mother, once? And me, of course.

"You can do this," Rose said encouragingly in her ear. "You're strong – and they're too afraid of Dimitri. Okay?" She said, sounding so sure and confident.

Sydney nodded and then she turned the corner of the building, and disappeared from out sight.

Rose looked at me. "We may have just sent her to her death."

So she wasn't as confident as she was letting on.

"I know – but we can't do anything now. You'd better get into position." I told her, knowing that it wouldn't take Donovan long to get outside if he did come and we'd best be ready.

I hoisted her up onto the roof of the low building and then made my way to the opposite side of the building that Sydney had gone around. I hid just around the corner. It was just a waiting game now.

After a couple of minutes, I heard the footsteps and prepared myself.

Peeking around the corner, I saw three of them heading down the alley, Sydney in front of them. So, the plan was to take out the other two and then question Donovan. Looking up, I saw Rose poised and ready for the go ahead to attack.

They stopped after a few more steps.

"Belikov?" Donovan's voice boomed. "Where are you?"

"I'm here," I answered coldly. I walked around the corner to face them.

Donovan visibly tensed when he saw that I wasn't a Strigoi, and all of my anger and fury came rushing to me.

I was suddenly seeing red. I realised that this meeting was a lot more than just finding out where Sonya Karp lived. It was personal.

"Dhampirs!" One of the others exclaimed, smelling us.

That was when Rose jumped and landed right on top of the guy who had realised there was more than just me here. She began fighting while I took on the other two.

As I fought, every last emotion and feeling I had felt since I had been turned back overwhelmed me. I channelled it as I slammed the Strigoi continuously against the brick building, both of us almost grunting with the force.

I staked him straight through his black heart, but it wasn't enough. I wanted…no I _needed _to cause as much pain to him as I possibly could. I continued hitting and slamming him against the wall, my pain trying to claw its way out of my heart.

"Dimitri!" I heard a familiar voice calling my name. I felt the anger lessen ever so slightly. "I need you!"

My mind catching up with where I was and who was calling me, I dropped the body and ran to her side. Not hesitating, I slammed into Donovan's side and pinned him down, the fury returning. I placed my stake over his heart.

"No!" The same voice as before called out to me. Something dropped to the ground beside me and tried pushing my arm away. My mind vaguely tried to figure out what it was but I was so focused on the hurt inside me and the death I wanted to cause the Strigoi beneath me that it was fruitless.

"We need him" Don't kill him!"

I was about to shove my stake through his chest when a sharp sting ran through the right side of my face.

It didn't hurt that much but I looked towards the source.

Rose's brown eyes were staring into mine.

"Don't kill him." She repeated.

Her words finally registered with me and I was reminded why we had come to find Donovan in the first place.

He started struggling beneath me and Rose helped me hold him down this time.

Rose started to say something else, but I became focused on getting the information we needed as quickly as possible. The faster we got the information, the faster I got to kill him.

I hit his head on the concrete ground a few times.

"Where is Sonya Karp?" I roared at him.

"I don't-" He started. I cut him off before he could finish what he had been about to say.

"Where is she? I know you know her!"

"I-"

"Where is she?" I roared at him once again.

I could see the fear in his eyes…and it gave me pleasure.

"Paris," he said quickly. "She's in Paris!"

"Christ," I heard Rose mutter. "We cannot road trip to Paris."

"It's a small town – an hour away. There's this tiny lake. Hardly anyone on it. Blue house." He explained further.

That was all I needed.

"Do you have an addr-" Rose started, but I had my stake in his heart before she could finish.

I heard the pain I had caused him ring out in his horrible scream.

And I wanted to hear more of it.

I stabbed him over and over again, channelling everything I possible had through my stake and into his chest.

I felt something gripping my arm, trying to pry me away.

"He's dead, Dimitri! He's dead! Stop this. Please."

I could hear desperation in her voice.

It mingled with my own desperation. Desperation to rid myself from these feelings that were eating my insides out.

"He's dead! Let it go. Please. He'd dead."

I heard something in voice.

Fear.

My hand dropped to my side when I remembered the last time I had heard fear in Rose's voice when she had been speaking to me.

All I felt was pain, and hurt and guilt.

And it was killing me.

"It's over. You've done enough." She said quietly to me.

"It's never enough, Roza." I said to her. It came out more like a whisper. "It'll never be enough."

"It is for now." She told me.

Then she pulled me to her. I dropped my stake and clung to her.

This.

This right here was the pain relief that I had been looking for.

She held me tight in her arms. I buried my face in her neck and took deep shaky breaths, breathing in the scent of her hair.

"You're the only one," I found myself not able to get close enough to her. "The only one who understands. The only one who saw how I was. I could never explain it to anyone…you're the only one. The only one I can tell this to…"

She pulled back ever so slightly and stared in to my eyes. "It's okay," she said. "It's okay now. I'm here. I'll always be here for you."

"I dream about them, you know. All the innocents I killed." I told her quietly, my gaze turning from hers to the mangled body beside us on the ground. It felt nice to finally telling someone this. "I keep thinking…maybe if I destroy enough Strigoi, the nightmares will go away. That I'll be certain I'm not one of them." I admitted in a whisper.

Her soft hand touched my chin and turned my head so that I was facing her once again.

"No." She said, "You have to destroy Strigoi because they're evil. Because that's what we do. If you want the nightmares to go away, you have to live. That's the only way. We could have died just now. We didn't. Maybe we'll die tomorrow. I don't know. What matters is that we're alive now."

I clung to her every word. To the sound of her voice, soothing and calming me.

"Remember what you said earlier? Back in Rubysville?" She asked me. "Living is in the details. You've got to appreciate the details. That's the only way to defeat what the Strigoi did to you. The only way to bring back who you really are. You said it yourself: you escaped with me to feel the world again. It's beauty."

I tried to look at the body before us again, but Rose kept my head in place.

"There's nothing beautiful here. Only death."

"That's only true if you make it true," She said. "Find one thing. One thing that's beautiful. Anything. Anything that shows you're not one of them."

I did what she asked me to do. And I didn't have to look for long.

I stared at her for a long time. Studying her dark brown – almost black hair that I had loved so much. Still loved, I realised. It was up in a messy bun, strands falling out and into her face but it only added to the beauty.

"Your hair," I said to her, my voice a whisper again.

"What?" She asked me, seeming surprised to my answer. She reached up and touched one of the stray locks.

"Your hair," I said to her again, realising what she had made me do. She had made me see beauty. "Your hair is beautiful."

She paused for a moment and then spoke again.

"You see? You're not one of them. Strigoi don't see beauty. Only death. You found something beautiful. One thing that's beautiful." She said.

I reached up, wanting to feel her soft hair in my fingers. "But is it enough?"

"It is for now," She replied and her lips embraced my forehead. I felt a slight tingle when her lips connected with my skin.

"It is for now." She repeated and we helped each other to our feet.

**AN: Could you guys please please review this one? I was nervous about uploading it – I love this chapter in Last Sacrifice, I think it's such a turning point for Dimitri and I'm worried that I didn't do it justice. It would mean a lot to me :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry for delay in updating – I don't get a chance **_**at all **_**during the week to write. In fact, I barely get time at the weekends but I'm trying so so hard. Please let me know what you guys think, your reviews really do mean the world to me and helps me find the time to write.**

**Chapter 14**

I took a few moments to gather myself together as Rose went to find Sydney, who had ran and hidden during the fight like we had told her to.

I just sat on the hard cold ground.

What I was feeling…it was…inexplicable. It was like I had finally found an air hole after being buried under a mountain of bricks for months. The tightness in my chest loosened, and I could breathe.

Sydney and Rose returned and I help Rose drag the bodies into a pile, where Sydney disposed of them.

After we had done that, we made our way to the car, where I climbed into the backseat, leaving the front for the girls.

"I hope you guys don't stain the car," Sydney said from her place at the driving seat.

"Are we going to Paris?" Rose turned and asked me.

"Paris?" Sydney said, sounding shocked.

"Not yet," I answered Rose's question. Suddenly feeling exhausted, I leant my head back. "We should wait until daytime. We had to go for Donovan now, but if Sonya's got a house, she's probably there all the time. Safer for us in daylight."

"How do you know he wasn't lying?" Sydney asked us.

"I don't think he was lying." Rose replied.

Seen as though we had no destination to go to, I suggested we stop at a hotel for the night and prepare for tomorrow.

The three of us decided on a modern hotel that was a definitely step up from the last place we stayed.

Sydney checked us in with the credit cards and we made our way up to the room. We had only gotten one bedroom but it contained two big double beds. It was a strange thing to feel for me, but I needed to be close to Rose tonight. She made my heart feel at peace.

"You can go shower first," Rose said once we had closed and locked the bedroom door.

I tried to insist that she go first, using what my mother had always taught me about 'ladies first' but Rose was having none of it. She insisted that I was much more of a mess and I had learned by now not to argue with Rose on the small things.

I didn't take as long as I would have liked in the shower as I knew Rose was waiting, but the hot pelts of water on my back felt good against my bloody and dirty skin. When I was sure that I was clean enough, I climbed out of the shower and dressed myself. I paused to inspect the cuts and grazes on my face but the mirror was fogged up from the steam so I left it.

Rose jumped in the shower after I had finished. After leaving the bathroom, I had gotten my first proper look at her state after the fight. Her legs had taken most of the damage, being covered in bad scrapes. As she had reminded me though, we were lucky to just be alive.

I sat on the edge of one of the beds, not thinking about anything in particular as Sydney shuffled through her bag. By the time she was done, Rose had finished and was out of the shower.

When Sydney finally straightened herself, she was holding a small first aid kit and forced it on both of us. Rose and I let her take care of the bandaging and disinfecting, knowing that she would not rest until she had. When she was done, she pulled out her laptop and started researching Paris, Kentucky.

Rose and I joined her at the screen as she studied a map of the area.

"Lots of creeks and rivers," Sydney murmured. "Not much in the way of lakes."

"Do you think that's it?" Rose asked, pointing to a small pool of blue on the map. It was marked 'Applewood Pond.'

"Maybe," Sydney replied. "Ah, there's another pond. That could be a suspect too or – oh! Right here?" She said, pointing to a bigger lake on the screen.

"That looks like the most likely option." I told them both, while fighting a yawn and losing. "If not, I don't think it'll take long to drive around the other ones."

"That's your plan?" Sydney said. "Just drive around and look for a blue house?"

I looked at Rose for her reaction. She looked at me at the same time and shrugged.

"It's more solid than most of our plans," Rose said after a couple of minutes.

After much deliberation, it was decided that we would leave to look for Sonya Karp's house after mid-day, which meant we had a good night of sleep ahead of us. I felt like a really needed it. And I knew Rose and Sydney both did too, despite Rose's protests.

Rose and Sydney took one of the beds and I took the other. It wasn't long before the sounds of Rose's and Sydney's deep breaths filled the room, and lulled me into a deep sleep.

I woke shortly before eleven in the morning, an hour earlier than I should have but I felt wide awake. I had a feeling of anticipation in my stomach. It felt nice to have a goal to work toward that we were actually close to finding.

I got up and checked on the girls. Sydney was still lying in the way she had fallen asleep, Rose however, was splayed across more than her half of the bed, leaving only about a quarter of it to Sydney. The sight of her hair sprawled all around her head brought a smile to my face. There was something oddly comforting and familiar. I felt at peace.

After I was washed and dressed, I sat on my bed and waited for twelve o'clock to roll around. I had a strong craving for a cup of coffee but there was no way that I would leave the two of them open and vulnerable.

The alarm went off at twelve and both Rose and Sydney arose from the sleepy state.

After a couple of minutes, Rose woke up enough to sit up and realise that I was awake. After questioning me as to why I was up so "early", she sent me to get my coffee.

I grabbed Sydney's keys and drove quickly to the nearest coffee shop I could find. I didn't want to leave the two of them on their own. Being separated was not what we needed right now. It was not was _I _needed.

I just ordered one cup of coffee and then called the cashier back after spotting doughnuts on display. I bought a box of them, knowing Rose would no doubt be hungry.

Driving back ten minutes later, I spotted a hardware store right across from the hotel. I pulled up and ran inside and asked for their strongest chain.

I walked back across the street with a long piece of industrial-strength chain and back up to our bedroom. The whole journey had taken less than half an hour.

I explained to Rose what the chain was for when she raised her eyebrows at me. She took the doughnuts off me without saying a word and we all made our way back down to the car.

We had been driving for about five minutes when Rose made a surprising announcement.

"So, Victor Dashkov might be joining us soon."

"What? That guy who escaped?" Sydney exclaimed.

I hated the guy, and I knew Rose did too. So I trusted her/

"Why, is Victor Dashkov joining us?" I asked her.

"Well, it's kind of a funny story…" she began and told us of how both he and his brother Robert had visited her in a spirit dream. She told us about Victor's brother, who I knew next to nothing about. She quickly brushed over the part about Victor's escape from Tarasov but it suddenly occurred to me.

Rose tells me that she meant through so much to find out this information about changing Strigoi back to their original state. At the same time this is happening, Victor Dashkov mysteriously breaks out of one of the most well protected prisons in Montana.

I suddenly had a feeling I knew exactly who had helped Victor out.

"Look, whether he can help or not, this is our chance to catch him," Rose added. "That's a good thing, right?"

This whole Victor thing was something I definitely wanted to know more about.

"It's an issue we'll deal with…later." I told her.

She stayed quiet after that.

We arrived at Martin Lake not long after that. Out of the few scattered houses around, only one was blue.

The three of us stepped outside of the car and walked towards the house.

"Well. It's a blue house," Sydney said. "But is it hers? I don't see a mailbox or anything."

We all studied the property for clues. Nothing tipped me off. It looked like a pretty ordinary suburban house.

Something however, seemed to make Rose sure.

"Yeah," she said. "This is her house."

I walked up to the front porch, noticing the dark pieces of material inside the windows.

"What are you doing?" Rose said quietly. "She might see you."

I walked back over to her, sensing that she was feeling a little edgy.

"Those are black-out curtains. They aren't letting in any light, so she isn't going to see anything. It also means she likely spends her time on the house's main floor, rather than a basement." I explained to her.

"That's good news for us," Rose replied after thinking it through for thirty seconds.

"I'll scout the other side," I said and moved toward the backyard.

"Let me," Rose said, catching up. "I'll sense any Strigoi – not that she's going outside but, well, just in case."

I hated the idea of Rose walking into known danger by herself. But I was also positive that she could look after herself and that she needed to know that I trust her."

"Okay," I told her, pushing my instincts to protect her aside. "Be careful."

Rose moved around the house and out of my sight. I waited for a couple of minutes before she returned.

"A patio and two windows," she told me. "All curtained. There's also a wooden deck chair, a shovel and a wheelbarrow."

"Any pitchforks?"

"Unfortunately, no, but there's a big ass rock sitting outside the fence. It'd be hard to get it into the yard though. We're better off using it to help us climb over. No gate in the fence. She's made a fortress." Rose reported.

I nodded, thinking carefully about every detail she had told me. It didn't take me long to come up with some sort of plan. Looking at Rose, I knew she understood exactly what I wanted to do.

We walked quickly back to Sydney and entrusted the thick chain to her. The plan was that she would wait out here by the car for us, while Rose and I ambushed Sonya through the back of her house.

I stood up on the big rock Rose had described and studied the back of Sonya's house for myself. It was exactly how Rose had described it.

I hoisted Rose up over the fence and she landed with a thud on the other side. I quickly followed her and landed with an even louder thud. If Sonya was indeed inside, there was no doubt that she had heard us. Rose and I sprang forward at the same time not wasting any time.

I grabbed the shovel that was leaning against the wall of the house and Rose leaned back a little as I swung it hard against the glass door. I didn't break but I felt it crack under the strength of the hit. I swung again, this time lower and the glass cracked in another place. Before I could strike again, Rose rushed forward with the wheelbarrow and slammed it with all her strength into the door. The glass shattered with the impact and we both ran through the now-gaping whole.

I saw Sonya as soon as we had come through the opening.

She was ready for us. She lunged at me first, obviously mentally tagging me as the bigger threat.

My stake was still in my belt and I didn't have enough time to go for it seen as though I still had the shovel in my hands. I struck out at her with it, hitting her hard on her shoulder. It wouldn't have hurt much but she held back a little. She began to move around, trying to find an opening. I followed her movement so that we ended up circling each other.

A little more to the left and that put her right in between Rose and myself. Before we could move any further, Rose suddenly charged at Sonya's side. Sonya was fast though and pushed her to the side. As soon as Rose was out of the way, she made a move to go left. I mirrored her movement but wasn't quick enough to realise that she had feinted the move and gone right.

Before I had properly realised what mistake I had made, she had the shovel knocked from my hands and had me pinned by my throat against the wall.

I struggled, trying to loosen her hold. I wasn't having much look when suddenly, Sonya screamed in pain. She realised me and frantically turned to Rose. I saw that Rose had stabbed her in her right shoulder with her stake.

I grabbed her as she attack Rose, effectively knocking her to the ground. I pinned Sonya down and grabbed Rose's fallen stake and held it to her throat.

She flailed and screamed in pain and anger.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rose move to help me.

"Get Sydney…" I managed to choke out at her. "The chain…" I needed no further explanation as Rose sprinted away. Now all I had to do was hold Sonya until she came back.

Easier said than done.

Sonya struggled and kicked against my weight and I put every ounce of my strength into just keeping her down and away from my neck.

Mere seconds had passed and Rose was back. She dropped to the ground by Sonya's head and we succeeded in keeping her down until Sydney ran in with the heavy chain.

I felt that same need to destroy Sonya, the same way I had destroyed the others. But Rose's words kept running through my mind, stopping me from doing anything rash.

_Living is in the details. __You__'__ve got to appreciate the details. That's the only way to defeat what the Strigoi did to you. The only way to bring back who you really are._

"We need her…remember we need her." Rose's warning only made me double my efforts to not kill Sonya right here and now.

I nodded ever so slightly to let her know that I was in control of myself. Then Sydney ran in, as best as she could while carrying an industrial strength chain.

Rose and I lifted Sonya as best we could while not endangering ourselves and placed her not so gently into an armchair in the same room.

I held the stake back at her throat while Rose grabbed the chain off Sydney and wrapped it quickly but effectively around and around Sonya.

As soon as Rose had run out of chain, and Sonya was pretty securely locked in the chain, we relaxed.

I exchanged a breathless, weary look at Rose.

"Time for questioning," Rose said grimly and we both turned to face Sonya once more.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy and all of its characters :)**

**Thank you to Rosalia and to the Guest who reviewed Ch. 14. I really hope I'm not losing it, my stats have dropped but I'm grateful for anyone who has stuck with me :) so thank you.**

**Chapter 15**

The questioning of Sonya Karp didn't go as well as we would have liked.

No matter what, the woman refused to answer any questions.

After about an hour of shouting at, threatening and torturing her, we took a break from the interrogation.

Silence fell over the room as nobody spoke. Sonya just glared at me as I held my stake firmly.

I glanced at Rose, noticing she had almost sagged against the wall and looked like she was about to pass out. There was a gash on her forehead that was bleeding and she was pale.

"What happened to your head, Rose?" I asked her, not remembering her hurting herself, or even seeing the cut when she had been wrapping the chain around Sonya. Then again, I had been a little distracted trying to keep Sonya in place.

"Huh?" She asked, seeming a little dazed. Her fingers came up to her forehead and swept her beautiful hair away from her eyes. She looked at her fingers when she felt the blood on them and looked vaguely surprised.

"I'm fine," she told me, sounding and looking anything but fine.

I glance at Sydney and back to Sonya again in less than a second, catching her attention.

"Go lay her down and clean it up." I told her. "Don't let her sleep until we can figure out if it's a concussion."

"No, I can't," Rose suddenly came to life a little. "I can't leave you alone with her…"

"I'm fine," I insisted, a warm feeling spreading in my chest as I realised that she was as worried about me as I was about her. "Rest up so that you can help me later. You're no good to me if you're just going to fall over."

Rose still protested, despite my good argument. Sydney however, saved me the effort of enforcing my point by grabbing Rose by the arm and led her towards another room that I assumed was a bedroom. Rose stumbled a little and leaned on Sydney for extra support.

The door swung shut behind them and I tried to focus my entire being on Sonya. It was hard though, when I was feeling quite worried for Rose's well-being.

Sonya didn't try anything else, and Sydney returned to the room not too long after.

"How is she?" I asked.

"She's doing that creepy thing where she looks into Lissa's mind," she answered.

We didn't say much after that, and a couple of hours passed.

My head snapped up when I heard a car pull up outside. I remembered what Rose had said about Victor and his brother joining us.

I wasn't very keen on the idea of having to watch my back with Sonya, Victor _and _Robert, not to mention Sydney, who I was supposed to be keeping safe.

"Go get Rose," I instructed Sydney, hoping those few hours' sleep had done Rose some good.

She got up from her place on the couch just as the doorbell rang. Sydney looked at me, silently asking me if she should open it.

I nodded to her and watched from across the room as she let in the two brothers.

The familiar man in the doorway looked tired and aged. His grey hair thin and wiry. I noticed his brother had a Dashkov resemblance as he followed his brother through the doorway.

"Ah, Belikov. Long time no see." Victor stated, eyeing me with that evil tint in his eyes as he entered the room, the other man at his heels.

I ignored him and tried to keep the majority of my attention on Sonya, while also watching the other two for threats. I gave a small nod in Sydney's direction as she left swiftly to get Rose.

**A/N: I know it's short which is why I will be uploading Chapter 16 as well in a little while :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for delay – my internet went last night and I couldn't upload! So here it is :)**

**Chapter 16**

Neither Victor nor Robert said a word while we were waiting for Sydney to return with Rose. Nor did I.

Rose walked into the room what felt like hours later, though it could only have been minutes. I felt relieved at having someone else there who was capable of defending should the need arise.

She looked better than she had earlier. But still not herself. She wasn't as pale and the gash on her forehead was clean and looked like it was already starting to heal. Plus the bags under her eyes weren't as obvious. She still grabbed the attention of the room when she walked in.

"So," Rose stated confidently, her hands on her hips; something I had loved about her. No matter what situation, she made herself seem so unbothered and nonchalant. It made the strength inside her shine through.

"There's one lake in this town," Victor replied cockily. "One blue house. Maybe you had trouble with those directions, but for the rest of us, it wasn't that difficult."

"Well, if you're so smart, what's your plan now?" Rose asked him.

"Since you're so smart," Victor mimicked her words. "I assumed you'd have already obtained the needed information."

"She's not exactly forthcoming." Rose said and gestured towards Sonya, still trapped in the chair.

"Sonya Karp." Victor's eyes landed on Sonya. "You've changed since I last saw you."

"I'm going to kill you all," Sonya snarled in reply. "And consume you one by one. Normally, I'd start with the human and work up to the Moroi, but…" she looked from me to Rose. "I think I'll save you two for last and drag out your suffering. You've annoyed me the most."

"Do all Strigoi go through some boot camp and learn all the same threats?" Rose retorted. "It's a wonder you don't cackle too."

She turned and faced Victor once again.

"See? Not that easy. We've tried everything. Beating it out, torturing it out. Sydney went through the names of all her relatives. No reaction."

Victor turned to look at Sydney.

"So," he started. "You're the pet Alchemist."

I hated the way he talked about her like she was some sort of animal.

"Young," Victor continued studying her like a cow at a fair. "But of course she would be. I imagine it's the only way you could manipulate her into this little escapade."

"I'm here by choice." Sydney stated calmly, but confidently. "No one manipulated me."

"Look," Rose snapped and Victor's attention returned to her. "If you wanted to keep torturing me with your not-funny comments, you could have just kept invading my dreams. If you don't have anything useful to offer, then get out of here and let us wait until hunger weakens Sonya."

"We can help." He replied and touched his brothers arm. "Your methods were destined to fail. If you want answers, there's only one way to – "

I realised as he was speaking that I had momentarily let my attention go from Sonya to listen to Victor Dashkov.

Sonya made her move.

She bucked up from the chair, effectively snapping the chain in at least two places. Rose ran to my side to help keep her down. Both of us were on her in a second, trying our hardest to keep her restrained.

I raked the stake I was still holding across her skin to distract her from trying to break free and let us get her under control. She screamed at us and struggled harder.

"No!" Rose shouted suddenly. "Don't kill her!"

I turned, thinking that she had been talking to me and had thought that I was about to kill Sonya. But then I saw movement. By the time my mind had registered what was happening, Robert Doru had reached us and plunged the silver stake in his hand through Sonya Karp's chest.

Sonya's scream was louder than before and less angry. It was full of pain. A blinding white light suddenly filled the room and there was nothing else I could see. I felt as though I was being filled with this beautiful happiness. This magic that made everything feel like it was going to be okay.

I felt a force pushing me back, and I let it.

Suddenly, everything stopped.

Everything was silent as my eyes readjusted to normal light. I studied the scene before me.

I realised that I was half sitting on the floor so I got up, noticing Rose was doing the same. Robert was lying on the floor, looking like he had passed out and Victor was by his side. Sydney stood frozen, just looking in shock at something in front of her.

I turned and felt the shock course through my body as I looked at Sonya Karp.

"Unbelievable." I heard Rose's soft voice whisper.

Sonya was sitting in the armchair, alive. Her skin no longer a deathly pale. Her eyes no longer a bloody red. My mind was immediately transported back to the day that Lissa had pushed that stake through my chest. I remembered the pain. I remembered the grief.

Why had I felt that and not Sonya? She just sat there, staring at the stake in her lap.

Then she started screaming.

As in wailing.

I ran to her, dropping my stake in the process, physically feeling the pain she was feeling. Remembering it. I wanted to comfort her. I needed to. It was almost unbearable to me to know that there was another person who was feeling what I had felt when I had been changed back.

I began ripping at the already broken chains, freeing her. She tried to struggle away from me but I didn't let her. As soon as I had the chains off, I pulled her to me. She gave in and sobbed mercilessly into my chest and I let her.

"What are you doing?" I heard Sydney's voice exclaim. It sounded far away. "Don't release her!"

"It's okay. It's okay." I heard Rose calming Sydney. It made me realise that I was not the only one here that had been involved in a miracle like this.

It was because of Rose that I was alive again.

No she had not physically changed me back. She hadn't been the one to put the charmed stake through my heart…except that she had.

She made all of this possible.

She had saved me.

"It's what happened to Dimitri. Exactly the same." Rose said to Sydney.

Victor's voice snapped me out of my revelation.

"What, no witty quips now? You should be happy. We've given you what you wanted. You need answers from Sonya Karp? Go get them."

"No!" I shouted at him, pulling Sonya close to me. I had this need to protect her. It was strange, but I felt as though if I could shield Sonya from even the slightest bit of pain, then I would protect myself from that same pain. If I could comfort her and let her know that I knew exactly what she was feeling, I would at least be doing some good in the world. I never wanted anyone to go through what I had gone through.

"Are you crazy?" I said to Victor. "Didn't you see what just happened?"

"Yes. I noticed." He replied.

"She's in no condition to answer anything. She's in shock. Leave her alone." I warned.

"Don't act like she'd the one who'd suffering here," Victor snapped. I realised that his brother was still only semi-conscious. I didn't care.

"You'll be alright." He said to his brother, helping him to the couch.

"Will he be?" Rose asked. "He…he did it before and recovered, right? And Lissa's fine."

"Robert was much younger – as is Vasilisa," Victor replied. "And this is hardly a simple spell. Doing it even once is monumental. Twice? Well you and I both know how spirit works, and this feat takes a toll on both body and mind." I tuned out, focusing my attention where it was needed.

Sonya was still sobbing into my chest and I cradled her close. She looked exhausted.

I stood up, not caring if I was interrupting anyone.

"She needs to rest," I said, my tone letting them know that it was not something to be argued with. I knew better than anyone what she needed. "Believe me, you have no idea what's going on inside her right now."

"Oh, I believe you," Rose answered.

"You're idiots, both of you." Victor snapped at us.

I glared at him. "No interrogation yet."

I saw Rose nod and agree with me.

I left the room and entered a small bedroom.

I gently lay her down on the quilt and just let her continue to cry.

I could exhaustion in her face and soon enough, she had cried herself to sleep while I sat beside her, murmuring comforting words in Russian.

When she was asleep, I stood up and walked back out to where the others were.

When I reached the living room, I saw Rose leaning heavily against the wall and Sydney stood near her. I glanced and saw Robert asleep on the couch.

"She's sleeping too," I notified Rose and Sydney. The transformation…it's difficult." I struggled to find the right words to tell them. I was still thinking about my own transformation and the overpowering feelings of every bad evil thing I had done pushed themselves on me.

"I don't think we should leave Sonya alone," Rose said. "Someone should stay with her in case she wakes up. She won't know what's going on."

I could sense that there was something else on her mind. I gave up trying to figure it out and agreed with her.

"You're right. Do you mind sitting with her?" I asked Sydney. It was wrong, but I felt this need to just be near Rose right now. She was the only one who understood. The only one who had been there when I had been changed. Plus I wanted to talk to her. To ask her about my own transformation. What had it looked like to her?

"She doesn't know me. It might makes things worse when she wakes up. Besides…I don't really feel that comfortable with someone who was a monster five minutes ago." Sydney said.

"She's not Strigoi," I exclaimed, feeling defensive. "She's absolutely, completely Moroi again!"

I realised by her expression that my voice may have been a little harsh. After all, it wasn't her fault. She had never experienced anything like this before.

"I know it's hard to believe," I said, softening my voice. "But she really has changed."

"I'll stay with her then," Rose said.

"No, no. Sydney's right about one thing," I told her. "Sonya might be confused. It's better if someone's there who understands what's happened."

Rose looked like she was about to argue but let it go. I saw her briefly glance in the Dashkov brother's direction.

I leaned in close to her so that they wouldn't hear.  
"Keep an eye on them," I whispered. "Robert's down right now but might recover sooner than we think."

"I know," she replied.

I started to walk away but I couldn't without asking her first.

"Rose?" I asked and turned around.

"Yeah?" She looked up at me with a tired soft expression.

"That…" I struggled a little to find the right words. "was that what it was like when Lissa changed me?"

"More or less." She answered me.

"I didn't realise…it was…" I had always considered my transformation one of the worst moments of my life – all the pain it caused had been unbearable. It was now that I realised that it was actually probably one of best things that had ever happened to me. And whatever pain I had felt since then had lessened a great deal since talking to Rose the other night.

I tried again.

"The way that light filled the room, the way she changed. Seeing that life emerge from death…it was…"

"Beautiful?" Rose supplied.

I nodded agreeing. Somehow, 'beautiful' didn't seem like enough.

It was…a miracle.

"Life like that…you don't – no, you can't waste it."

"No," Rose said quietly. "You can't."

Saying it out loud, it finally seemed it hit me.

I had spent weeks, sulking over the fact that I had been changed, when I should have been embracing the fact that I have been given a second chance at life.

I walked back down the hall towards Sonya. I didn't want her to make the same mistake I had. I needed her to know that she mustn't waste her life, she should celebrate it.

I opened Sonya's door and saw she was still asleep. Looking at her clearly Moroi features, I was reminded once again of this miracle and that Rose had been right all along.

I closed the door gently behind me and sat on a small chair by the bed.

I sat there for hours, thinking and watching Sonya sleep – just waiting for her to wake up.

**A/N: I really hope you guys think that I'm doing Dimitri's POV justice. Thank you to everyone who liked what I'm doing and let me know – it really just completely brightens my day :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Those of you who reviewed – thank you! Those who didn't – thank you anyway and I hope you're enjoying :)**

**Chapter 17**

Rose.

She was the reason that I had been given that second chance.

I finally understood what she had been trying to tell me all of this time.

Thinking of her reminded me that she was still a little injured. Sonya was still asleep so I quietly left the room.

I walked down the hall and out into the living room. I saw that both Victor and Robert were asleep. Looking around, I spotted Rose who was asleep, curled up in a ball on the floor.

"She was tired so I told her to sleep," Sydney's voice told me.

"Good. She needs it."

Sydney got up to go to the bathroom and I took her place on the couch. I watched Rose sleeping peacefully on the floor, matching my breathing pattern to hers. The deep calming breaths immediately began to soothe the tightness in my muscles. I hadn't realised how tense I'd become in the last couple of hours waiting for Sonya to wake.

Sydney returned and I went back to Sonya. She was still asleep but was stirring slightly.

"Sonya?" I said quietly.

Her eyes shot open. Her head turned and her eyes focussed on my face, before tears filled them.

"Ssh…it's okay," I moved from the chair to the bed. "It's ok…I know."

Sonya's head snapped up to mine in confusion. I gently explained to her that I was completely aware to how she was feeling.

We talked for a long time about everything; how she was feeling, how I had felt, how I felt now, what I had learned about life giving us another chance.

As a soft knock tapped on the door, I almost wished someone had been there to explain all of this to me. Sonya and I both looked up as the door opened gently. Rose popped her head in.

The first thought that crossed my mind was how beautiful she really was.

_How _had I missed that?

After the attack the last night, I had realised how beautiful her hair was. And I was not wrong.

But how on earth had I missed the whole picture?

I just watched her and her eyes swept over Sonya.

"Rose?" Sonya asked, speaking as though she couldn't believe her eyes.

Over the events of the last couple of days, I had forgotten that Rose had known Sonya, and vice versa.

"It's good to see you again," Rose replied smiling, but I could how forced it was.

Rose's gaze moved from Sonya to me.

"Sydney went for groceries," she said. "She also stayed up so that I could sleep last night."

"I know," I told her. "I got up once to check on you."

"You can rest too," she continued after a moment. "Get some breakfast, and then I'll keep an eye on everything. I have it on good authority that Victor's going to have car trouble." Of course she did.

"Also that Robert really likes Cheerios, so if you want some, you're out of luck. He doesn't seem like the sharing type." She said.

I felt myself smiling. I had missed this side of Rose; the joking, witty side. Everything had been so busy and serious that we'd had no chance to.

Sonya's head snapped up.

"There's another spirit user here," she said, panicked. "I can feel it. I remember him." Her head shot between myself and Rose. "It's not safe. We're not safe. You shouldn't have us around."

"Everything's fine," I soothed her. "Don't worry."

Sonya shook her head vigorously. "No. You don't understand. We…We're capable of terrible things. To ourselves, to others. It's why I changed, to stop the madness. And it did, except…it was worse. In its way. The things I did…"

"It wasn't you," Rose said gently. "You were controlled by something else."

"But I chose it. Me. I made it happen."

"That was spirit," Rose said, less gently but more confidently. I understood why she sounded so confident; this was something she had dealt with first-hand. "It's hard to fight. Like you said, it can make you do terrible things. You weren't thinking clearly. Lissa battles with the same thing all the time."

"Vasilisa?" Sonya repeated her name vaguely, looking deep in thought. "Yes, of course. Vasilisa has it too."

She looked at Rose in a panic. "Did you help her? Did you get her out of there?"

"I did," Rose answered her.

So it had been Sonya Karp who had told Rose to get Lissa out of the school. Rose had always said that she had done it to protect her, and after everyone found out about Victor Dashkov, I understood why. But I had had no idea that Sonya Karp had put the idea in her head.

"And you can help Lissa too. We need to know if – " I realised what she was about to do.

"No," I said firmly. "Not yet."

"But-" Rose argued.

"Not yet," I repeated.

She sent me one of her famous glares but didn't try and argue further.

"Can I see my flowers?" Sonya asked suddenly. "Can I go outside and see my flowers?"

I realised that flowers to Sonya, was like the sun to me, when I had been turned back.

"Of course," I answered her. There was no reason to deny her this.

Sonya and I got up off the bed and walked towards the door behind Rose. But she didn't move.

"Why did you grow flowers when you were…like you were?" She asked Sonya out of the blue.

"I've always grown flowers." She answered.

"I know. I remember. They were gorgeous. The ones here are gorgeous too. Is that why…I mean, did you just want a pretty garden, even as a Strigoi?" I realised what she was doing.

After thinking about it for a moment, Sonya answered.

"No. I never thought about pretty. They were…I don't know. Something to do. I'd always grown flowers. I had to see if I still could. It was like…a test of my skills, I guess."

Rose looked at me right in my eyes and they conveyed her point.

Sonya Karp hadn't grown flowers for beauty when she was a Strigoi because she couldn't see their beauty.

We continued walking out to the living room and found Victor and his brother in conversation. Sonya tensed up upon seeing them, as did Robert.

"Up and around," Victor said. "Have we found out what we need yet?"

I shot him a warning glare not to start anything. "Not yet."

Suddenly Sonya moved her gaze from Robert to her patio. "You broke my door."

"Collateral damage," Rose replied nonchalantly and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her attitude.

I followed Sonya to the door, as did Rose. She gasped when we reached outside. The sky was a gorgeous blue, no clouds to be seen. The sun illuminating everything in gold, it's rays heating my already tanned skin.

I realised Victor and Robert had also followed us out.

"It's so beautiful." Sonya said and turned to Rose. "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"

"Beautiful." Rose repeated, looking lost in her own thoughts.

Sonya walked around, touching every flower petal and every green leave, basking in the beauty of the sun. "So different. So different in the sun…These don't open at night! Do you see it? Do you see the colours? Can you smell that?"

She wasn't speaking to anyone in particular. We all just watched her incredulous and even happy face as she tended to her loving flowers.

After a while, she settled in one of the patio chairs, looking around her bright garden happily. I felt a sense of peace just watching her. It seemed like her recovery would be a lot easier than mine had been. I was glad. Glad that my talk with her when she had woken up seemed to have really helped her. She still had a long way to go however.

"I think you should go get some sleep." Rose turned and said to me, her dark hair shining in the sun. "You need it. Sydney said we should take turns."

She was right. I did need it. I felt like I hadn't slept in days…which, in all honesty, was completely possible.

"That's smart," I told her. "Once Sonya's able to talk, we'll need to move." I smiled at her.

"Sydney's turning into a battle mastermind."

"Hey, she's not in charge here," Rose teased. "She's just a soldier."

"Right." My hand moved on its own account to brush her beautiful skin. Her cheek was warm and soft. "Sorry Captain."

"General," Roza corrected me

I said goodbye to Sonya and walked back to the empty bedroom.

I lay down under the covers and started thinking.

What was going on with me?

I had been so sure that my feelings for Rose were gone. After being turned back, there really wasn't any room in my heart for anything but hurt.

But now, the hurt and pain was lessening…and my heart was accepting other emotions.

Was it love? Could it be possible that I still loved Rose?

I exhaled a loud breath and realised my eyes were drooping. Pushing these thoughts away for the time being, I closed my eyes and let sleep take over my body.

I woke suddenly, feeling as though I had just had freezing water poured over me. I looked around me, trying to figure out why I had woken so suddenly and panicked.

"Dimitri!" Rose's strained voice called and I realised that that was what had woken me in the first place.

I tore off the covers and sprinted out the door and down the hall. I reached the patio less than ten seconds later.

My guardian instincts kicked in as I saw Rose trying to pin Sonya to the ground and Robert picking up a wooden chair and firing it in their direction. It hit Rose smack in the back. I ran at Robert and attempted to do the same as Rose. I tackled him and tried to pin him. It wasn't hard to do so, seen as though he was a lot older than me and still weak from the spirit he'd used last night.

I felt hands trying to pry me away from him and I realised it was Victor. I ignored him.

Vines suddenly sprang to life and went straight for Robert, and by default, myself.

"Get him inside!" Rose yelled to me. "Get him away from her!"

I realised it was Sonya controlling the vines and attacking Robert. Robert would, no doubt, retaliate.

I started to drag him towards the patio door.

Victor was still at me but I managed to get through the door. Robert sagged in exhaustion from using even more spirit and I let him go. Victor immediately went to help him up and over to the couch.

"No." I said to them and took a hold of Robert's arm. I lead him to the bedroom I had been in and let Victor stay with him as I shut the door behind me. I didn't want them both to be in the living room when Sonya came back inside.

I went outside and helped Rose bring Sonya inside, where she sat on the couch. She calmed down a little as Sydney held her hand and I turned to Rose.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"I told you it wasn't time!" I exclaimed after she had told me. "What were you thinking? She's too weak!"

"You call that weak?" Rose retaliated. "And hey, I was doing fine! It wasn't until Victor and Robert got involved that things went to hell."

"They should never have gotten involved." I said angrily. "This is you, acting irrational again, jumping in foolishly with no thought of the consequences."

Anger shot through her features.

"Hey, I was trying to make progress here. If being rational is sitting around and doing therapy, then I'm happy to jump over the edge. I'm not afraid to get in the game."

"You have no idea what you're saying," I growled at her. "This may have set us back"

"This set us forward. We found out she knows about Eric Dragomir. The problem is she promised not to tell anyone about this baby."

"Yes, I promised," Sonya said before I could reply. Rose and I turned to look at her at the same time. "I promised." She said quietly, and almost pleading tone in her voice.

"We know," Sydney said, squeezing her hand. "It's okay. It's okay to keep promises. I understand."

"Thank you," Sonya said to her. "Thank you."

"But," Sydney said very carefully. "I heard that you care about Lissa Dragomir."

"I can't," Sonya said, panicking again.

"I know, I know. But what if there was a way to help her without breaking your promise?"

I looked at Rose to see if she knew what Sydney was talking about. She looked as lost as I was as she shrugged her shoulders.

"W-what do you mean?" Sonya asked Sydney, confused.

"Well…what did you promise exactly? Not to tell anyone that Eric Dragomir had a mistress and baby?"

Sonya nodded to her.

"And not to tell who they were?"

Sonya nodded again.

Sydney smiled warmly at her.

"Did you promise not to tell anyone where they are?

"No." Sonya replied after a minute and shook her head.

"So…you could lead us to them. But not tell us where they actually are. You wouldn't be breaking the promise that way."

It almost sounded like Rose-logic. Sydney had spent too much time with her.

"Maybe…" Sonya replied uncertainly.

"You wouldn't break the promise," Sydney said. "And it would really, really help Lissa."

"It would help Mikhail too." Rose said, stepping closer to the couch.

Sonya looked at Rose in shock at the mention of his name.

"Mikhail? You know him?"

"He's my friend. He's Lissa's friend too. And he wants to help Lissa. But he can't. None of us can. We don't have enough information."

"Mikhail…" Sonya said quietly. I could see tears glistening on her cheeks.

"You won't break you promise." Sydney repeated once again. "Just lead us. It's what Mikhail and Lissa would want. It's the right thing to do."

Sonya looked at her hands before finally looking up.

"I'll lead you there," she whispered.

"We're going on a road trip," Sydney said. "Get ready."

Sydney busied herself soothing Sonya and wiping her tears.

I looked down at Rose, feeling a little guilty for getting so mad at her. She had only been trying to help. She was a lot closer than I expected her to be and she was looking straight back into my eyes.

I gulped and changed the subject.

"You were wrong. She really is the new general in town."

Rose smiled back at her. "Maybe. But, it's okay. You can still be colonal."

"Oh?" I teased her. "Did you demote yourself? Colonal's right below general. What's that make you?"

She grinned victoriously at me and held up the car keys.

"The driver." She said.

Over my dead body.


	18. Chapter 18

**Only got one review :/ hope this one's better than the last :)**

**I put two chapters together as one was very short so here you are :)**

**Chapter 18**

I got to drive.

Victor and Robert were travelling with us after discovering their 'engine trouble' so the car was pretty much full. I had to decide where the best seating arrangements for everyone would for safety.

I put Sydney in the cargo space in the back, keeping her out of any firing zone. I put Robert in the passenger seat so that I could keep an eye on him and to keep him and Sonya separated. It also kept him and Victor away from each other. I sat Rose in the middle, with Victor and Sonya either side of her, knowing that she'd be able to keep them off each other.

We fetched our stuff from the house and started loading up the car.

"We have got to get rid of Victor and Robert now," Rose murmured quietly to me. "They've done what we needed. Keeping them is dangerous. It's time to turn them over to the guardians."

"Agreed," I said to her. She was right. They had done what we needed them to do, and now they were just two extra people for us to protect. "But there's no good way to do it. Not yet. We can't leave them tied up beside the road; I wouldn't put it past them to escape and hitchhike. We also can't turn them in ourselves, for obvious reasons."

She sighed after placing the last bag inside the car and leaned against it. "Sydney could turn them in."

"That's probably our best bet – but I don't want to part with her until we get to…well, wherever we're going. We might need her help."

Rose sighed again. "And so, we drag them along," She concluded.

"Afraid so," I replied.

"You know, when they are in custody, there's a very good chance they'll have quite a story to tell the authority about us," I said to her worriedly. It was something that had been in my mind since the Dashkov brothers had joined us.

"Yeah," she replied, her forehead scrunched ever so slightly. I had an urge to smooth out the soft skin between her eyebrows but refrained from doing so. It would be inappropriate to do so.

"I guess that's a problem for later," she continued. "Gotta deal with the immediate problems first."

I smiled at her mature attitude.

"Well, that's always been our strategy, hasn't it?"

She smiled back at me and I felt my breathing catch. She really was beautiful. Even more so with the sun shining on her smooth tanned skin, and pieces of her hair blowing softly around her.

We got everyone into their places in the car and we left shortly afterwards. It was fairly quiet, due to the fact that the Moroi were tired and in need of blood.

Every now and then, Sonya would instruct me to drive in a certain direction or along a certain road.

I glanced in the rear-view mirror every few minutes, just to make sure everything was alright. Sydney was gazing out the back window, also silent. Rose had the faraway look she often got when looking into Lissa's head, which left me no doubt of where she was right now.

"You're awfully happy," Sonya said after about forty minutes of driving. I looked in the mirror to see who she was speaking to. I then realised Rose was back with us in the car, looking quite happy.

"Lissa passed her second monarch test." Rose explained.

"Of course she did," Victor answered, sounding bored.

"Is she okay? Injured?" I asked her quickly.

"She's fine," she assured me.

Rose fell silent again, lost in her own thoughts.

Half an hour later, everyone in the car was asleep, excluding myself, Sonya and Robert. Robert looked close though and Sonya was staring out the side window.

A few hours later, everybody else was awake in the car as Rose arose from her much needed slumber.

"You were having a spirit dream," Sonya said suddenly.

"How'd you know?" Rose asked her, sounding surprised.

"Your aura." She answered.

"Auras used to be cool, but now they're just starting to get annoying," Rose grumbled and I cracked a smile.

Sonya chuckled softly and again, I was reminded how much better she was taken being restored than I had.

"They're very informative if you know how to read them," Sonya said. "Were you with Vasilisa?"

"No," Rose answered. "My boyfriend. He's a spirit user too."

I felt a small pang in my chest. I had completely forgotten that Rose was seeing Adrian.

"That's who you were with?" Sonya asked her, sounding very surprised.

"Yeah, why? What's wrong?" Rose asked.

I fought the urge to look back at Sonya as a car pulled out in front of me, drawing my attention back to the road.

"Nothing," Sonya answered. "Nothing's wrong."

"Come on, it sure seemed like – "Rose started but Sonya cut her off.

"There!" she said, leaning between the two front seats. "Take that exit."

I jerked the wheel to the left and the car swerved as I managed to make the exit she had told me to.

"A little warning next time would be helpful," I said to her as we got back on track.

I looked in the rear view mirror as I stopped at a red light when she didn't answer. Sonya's mood had turned solemn.

"Are we here?" Rose asked her, excitement in her voice. "And how long were we on the road?"

"Six hours," I answered her.

"Go left at that second light," Sonya instructed. "Now right at the corner."

Everyone became alert as we neared the house.

"There." Sonya said suddenly and I pulled into the driveway of the house she pointed to. It was an average sized brick house with a neat lawn.

"Do you know if your relatives still live here?" Rose asked her.

Her question was pointless. Sonya acted as though she hadn't spoken and just stared out the window.

"I guess there's only one way to find out," Rose said to herself, taking off her seatbelt. "Same plan?" she asked me.

Rose and I had discussed that she would go and I would stay in the car if we ever got to this house.

"Same plan," I agreed. "You go to the house. You look less threatening."

"Hey!" She said indignantly.

"I said 'look.'" I smiled.

Sonya, Sydney and Rose started to get out of the car.

"Be careful," I said, not being able to help myself. It was second nature for me to feel protective of Rose.

"You too," she replied and I smiled, my feelings a lot stronger than before.

I watched the three of them walk up the pathway. I could see the tension and nerves rolling off Rose as she rang the doorbell to meet her best friend's sister.

The door opened and a Moroi man appeared.

A conversation started and the tension in Rose's shoulders seemed to ease a little as she spoke.

That was until the young girl who Rose had introduced me to, what felt like years ago, arrived in the doorway, and her whole body froze as Jill Mastrano stood there.


	19. Chapter 19

**I love this chapter in Last Sacrifice! :D hope I did it justice :)**

**Laurie**

**Chapter 19**

I watched nervously as another woman appeared in the doorway. Rose recovered herself and they began speaking.

I watched as the woman stepped aside to allow them entry. Sydney hesitated slightly but Rose walked ahead of her more confidently.

The three women walked through and the door shut behind them. I waited impatiently for about half an hour as Victor and Robert stayed quiet; they were both suffering from lack of blood at this stage.

What felt like forever later, Rose reappeared at the door and signalled for us to join them. I unbuckling my seat belt as did the other two men and climbed out of the car. Despite his exhaustion, Robert, with the help of Sonya, disguised himself and Victor well.

While Rose filled me in on what had happened and how the Mastrano's had taken the news. I met Jill's mother, Emily and her husband, John before dinner. Emily cooked dinner for the lot of us and organised for a feeder to come by for the Moroi. I wouldn't have minded Victor and Robert staying weak and exhausted; that meant less trouble, but Sonya needed blood to keep up her strength and health.

"The feeder and her keeper will be here any minute," Emily said to us as we sat around her living room. I looked at Rose who was looking at me. I nodded my head and gestured towards stairs, letting her know it was time.

"Thank you," I said to Emily before we made our way to the second floor.

Once we had entered a bedroom, Rose and I flipped a coin to see who got to shower first. Rose won and I just sat and the bed and listened to the voices downstairs.

Ten minutes later, Rose had finished cleaning herself up and I entered the bathroom. I showered quickly, not wanting to leave Rose on her own.

When I re-entered the bedroom, I found Rose sitting on the bed. She was wearing a long dress and her hair was now partly dried, given it a slightly messy but fluffy look.

That wasn't what caught my attention though; it was the blank look in her face and the tears that had built in her wide eyes.

"Rose," I started, feeling worried. "Rose, what is it?"

No response.

"Rose!" I said louder, getting more panicked now. I knelt down in front of her and shook her.

She blinked a few times.

"Rose, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"No!" she pushed me aside and jumped up off the bed. "I have to- I have to go back to Court. Now. Lissa's in danger. She needs me."

"Rose. Roza. Slow down." I said, my affectionate name for her slipping out of my mouth before I could help myself.

I grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her moving towards the door. I pulled her so that she was facing me. "Tell me what happened." I instructed.

She frantically and breathlessly told me what had happened with Eddie and Lissa and the man who had attacked them.

"Someone tried to kill her, Dimitri! And I wasn't there!" she almost yelled, clearly still upset.

"But Eddie was," I said to her, trying to calm her down. "She's okay. She's alive." I released her arm from my grip.

"And now he's in trouble. Those guardians were pissed – "

"Only because they don't know the whole story," I interrupted her. "They see a dead body and a weapon, that's it. Once they get facts and testimonies, everything will be okay. Eddie saved a Moroi. It's his job."

"But he killed another Moroi to do it," she argued. "We're not supposed to do that." She dropped her head and studied her hands.

"That wasn't a normal situation," I said to her.

She looked back up at me. "I know, I know. I just can't stand leaving her undefended. I want so badly to go back and keep her safe. Right now. What if it happens again?"

"Other people are there to protect her," I assured her. I approached her and smiled gently. "Believe me, I want to protect her too, but we'd risk our lives for nothing if we take off right now. Wait a little longer and at least risk your life for something important."

I could see my words infiltrate her mind. "And Jill is important, isn't she?" she asked, as though she needed my confirmation.

"Very," I answered.

Rose pushed herself off the wall where she had been leaning and stood up straight.

"We did it." She said, a smile slowly making its way onto her face. "Against all reason…somehow, we found Lissa's lost sister. Do you realize what this means? Lissa can have everything she's entitled to now. They can't deny her anything. Hell, she could be queen if she wanted. And Jill…" she stopped speaking. "Well, she's part of an ancient royal family. That's got to be a good thing, right?"

"I think it depends on Jill," I answered her honestly. "And what the after-effects of all this are.

Rose looked down in obvious guilt.

"Hey, it's okay," I said, lifting my hand up to tilt her chin back up. "You did the right thing. No one else would have tried something this impossible. Only Rose Hathaway. You took a gamble to find Jill. You risked your life by breaking Abe's rules – and it paid off. It was worth it."

Rose's risk-taking was one of the many things that I had fallen in love with. It made me realised that after all of this time, after everything I had said, my feelings for her hadn't changed.

"I hope Adrian thinks so," she said. "He thinks me leaving our 'safe house' was the stupidest thing ever."

I dropped my hand and felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over me. Adrian. She was with Adrian, and here I was having more than affectionate feelings for her. The fact that she had told Adrian about this meant that she obviously had feelings for him.

"You told him about this?" I asked her.

"Not about Jill," she said. "But I accidently told him we weren't in West Virginia anymore. He's kept it secret, though," she added hastily. "No one else knows."

"I can believe that," I replied. "He…he seems pretty loyal to you." I said carefully, not wanting to step over any boundaries.

"He is. I trust him completely." She answered.

"And he makes you happy?" No matter what, I wanted her to be happy.

She paused for a moment. "Yeah. He does. I have fun with him. I mean he's infuriating sometimes – okay, a lot of the time – but don't be fooled by all the vices. He's not a bad person."

"I know he isn't," I agreed. "He's a good man. It's not easy for everyone to see, but I can. He's still getting himself together, but he's on his way. I saw it in the escape. And after…" I hesitated, still finding it hard to talk aloud about my Strigoi days. "After Siberia, he was there for you? He helped you?"

She nodded slowly.

"Do you love him?" So much for not wanting to over-step boundaries.

I waited for her reply for a while, and I briefly wondered if she'd try and punch me for asking a question that was so out of line. But I had to know.

"Yeah," she finally said. "I…I do love him."

"Good, I'm glad." I replied, although it hurt me to say so more than I ever wanted her to know.

I looked away from her, not able to look into the brown eyes that I had looked into so lovingly, so often.

I heard her soft footsteps approach me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied quickly. "I just want to make sure that you're okay. That you're happy." I turned around to face her, not wanting to bring any more questions upon myself. I was barely holding it together as it was. "Things have been changing, that's all. It's making me reconsider so much. Ever since Donovan…and then Sonya…it's strange. I thought it all changed the night Lissa saved me. But it didn't. There's been so much more, more to the healing than I realised."

"Every day I figure out something new. Some new emotion I'd forgotten to feel. Some revelation I totally missed. Some beauty I didn't see."

"Hey, my hair in the alley does not do on that list, okay?" she said jokingly. "You were in shock."

I smiled at her, taking in her whole presence. It was beautiful. "No, Roza. It was beautiful. It's beautiful now."

"The dress is just throwing you off," she joked.

I looked over her once again. The beauty was practically radiating off her; I'd have to have been a blind idiot not to see it before.

But she was taken now. I'd missed my chance.

"What?" she asked, looking uncomfortable. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because sometimes, a person can get so caught up in the details that they miss the whole. It's not just the dress or the hair. It's you. You're beautiful. So beautiful, it hurts me."

It was this moment that I realised how much I really loved the woman standing before me. I had been a fool to not realise it before. But it was too late.

"Hey, guys, have you – oh." Sydney came through the door but immediately stopped. I realised just how close Rose and I had become, and as one, we stepped back. "Sorry. I – that is –"

"No problem. What's going on?" Rose said, attempting to stir the conversation away from the two of us.

"I…that is…I just wanted to come hang out. I can't handle that going on downstairs."

"Sure," Rose answered. "We were just…talking," she attempted to cover. "We were talking about Jill," she continued. "Do you have any ideas on how to get her to Court – seeing as we're all outlaws?"

"Well, you could always have her mother –" she started but was interrupted by a loud crashing sound coming from downstairs.

I sprang for the door, as did Rose and together we came to a halt on the landing. I heard the familiar shouts for everyone to 'get down'. I had never been on this side of the attack however.

"Guardians," I voiced out loud. "There are guardians raiding the house."


	20. Chapter 20

**Only got three reviews for the last chapter :/ I dunno, maybe I'm updating too soon but I can't help myself :P Enjoy :)**

**Chapter 20**

On instinct, I backed away from the top of the stairs, as did Rose and Sydney, wracking my brain for some way out of this. How was it possible that they had found us? We had been so careful. There was only one possible answer.

Someone had told.

I heard the many heavy footsteps of the guardians thundering around the bottom floor of the house. It would take them merely seconds to realise that we were not on the first floor and move onto the next.

"Get out," Sydney said suddenly and urgently. "I'll distract them."

The thundering moved onto the stairs.

"Come on!" I yelled at Rose, not thinking twice. I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the furthest bedroom.

Rose yelled something back at Sydney but I wasn't listening. The guardians had already reached her, meaning they were only about three seconds behind us.

I opened the window and looked at Rose, who was looking back at me, concentration and determination on her face. We needed no words.

Knowing that there would be guardians also surrounding the place, I jumped out the window first. Rose landed beside me a few seconds later, her ankle twisting slightly. I steadied her and saw her wince. I didn't have time to worry too much about it when I saw dark shadows suddenly move around us.

I fought the many guardians that came at us, watching Rose's back as she stood by mine; our fighting and bodies in sync.

I slammed a guardian into the ground, effectively knocking him out. I hated doing it, I did…but I would do anything to protect Rose.

"The others will be out any minute," I warned her. "We need to move – there." I said, spotting an opening on the property. "That gate."

We both took off, running side by side, not wasting any time. I heard the guardians that had been raiding the house spill outside, finding their men unconscious. We made it to the gate and slipped out, and continued running along the quiet road.

Rose was limping more and more with every step, slowing her down. I slid an arm around her, urging her to let me take some of her weight.

"We can't outrun them," she said a minute later. "I'm slowing us down. You need to –"

I cut her off, knowing what she was going to say and stopping her.

"Do not say leave you. We're doing this together."

A flowerpot suddenly exploded near us. They were after us.

"They're shooting at us," Rose said shocked. "They're actually shooting at us!"

"With a silencer," I commented, remembering training with them many years ago. "Even so, they'll be cautious. They don't want the neighbourhood thinking it's under attack. We need cover. Fast."

I saw a couple of backyards on our left and led Rose towards them.

We ran through a couple until I saw an escape route.

"There." I said to her. We ran toward the large glass patio door in the backyard of one particular house. The glass door was open but there was a screen in the way. It was locked when I tried so I pulled out my stake and carefully slashed it down the way. If any guardian came looking, it would take them a while to notice there was even a rip in it. I slipped inside, pulling Rose with me and held her tight to my body so that we were both out of sight.

I signalled for her to be quiet and listened as the guardians came into the yard, searching everywhere for us.

As quietly as I could, I moved off into the living room, avoiding windows. Rose followed me as I moved into the kitchen. I spotted the door I was looking for and entered the garage, Rose at my heels.

"Two car family," I said, noticing that there was another car in the garage. "I was hoping for that."

"Or they're out for a walk and about to come home when they notice a SWAT team in their neighbourhood." Rose whispered

"The guardians won't let themselves be seen," I replied just as quietly.

We searched around the place for keys. Minutes had passed when Rose finally found them.

"Got 'em." She said and tossed me the keys, to my surprise.

"Will they spot us in this?" she asked me when I was backing out of the garage. "It's, uh, a bit flashier than our usual stolen car profile."

"It is," I answered. "But other cars will be driving down the street. Some guardians will still be searching the yards, and some will be guarding the Mastranos. They don't have infinite numbers. They can't watch everything at once, though they'll certainly try."

We both stayed silent as I drove out of the suburb, hoping not to be spotted by the guardians. We didn't seem to grab their attention and I continued driving along the road normally.

"They turned us in, didn't they?" Rose said, having come to the same conclusion I had earlier. "Victor and Robert called us in and then took off. I should have kept watch."

"I don't know," I replied. "It's possible. I saw them just before I talked to you, and everything seemed fine. They wanted to go with us to find Jill, but they knew it was only a matter of time before we turned them over to the authorities. I'm not surprised they came up with an escape plan. They could have used the feeding as a distraction to call the guardians and get rid of us."

"Crap," Rose muttered, running a hand through her hair. "We shoule've gotten rid of them when we had the chance. What'll happen now?"

I stayed silent, thinking about the madhouse we'd just left. "The Mastranos will be questioned…extensively. Well, all of them will, really. They'll lock Sonya up for investigation, like me, and Sydney will be shipped back to the Alchemists."

"And what will they do to her?" She asked me, sounding worried.

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "But I'm guessing her helping vampire fugitives won't go over well with her superiors."

"Crap," Rose muttered again. "And what are we going to do?" she asked me.

"Put some distance between us and those guardians. Hide somewhere. Wrap up your ankle."

I felt her look at me. "Wow. You've got everything planned out."

"Not really," I was still trying to work out the best place for us to stay tonight. Hotels were out of the question; having left the credit cards with Sydney. Not to mention it would be dangerous for us to stay around people in case we were spotted. "That's the easy stuff. What happens after that is going to be the hard part."

I took the next exit off the highway when I spotted a sign for camping grounds. It was our best bet.

"Hotel?" Rose asked me.

"Not quite," I replied. I spotted a small 24-hour drugstore on the side of the road and pulled in.

"Stay here," I said to her after I had parked.

"But –" she started to argue but I looked pointedly at her. She glanced down, realising what I was saying. Her dress was torn, which would attract attention in a small human town. Her limping would also draw attention – attention we couldn't afford.

She nodded, letting me know she understood and I walked into the store.

The last thing I wanted to do was leave Rose on her own, especially with guardians searching the vicinity, so I moved quickly and efficiently through the store, picking up everything we needed. I walked over to the camping section and grabbed a tent and a flashlight. I also picked up a couple of blankets, knowing it would be cold. Next to it was a first aid shelve so I grabbed a couple of things, including a bandage to wrap her ankle in. There was a small frozen freezer at the back of the store. I studied it's contents of chips, peas and fish and picked up a bag of the peas to help with the swelling of her ankle.

I brought my items to the counter, where they had stacks and stacks of food. I picked up a bar of chocolate and a packet of crisps, knowing they would make Rose happy, along with some other food. I purchased my items and the cashier fit them into two plastic bags. I slung them over my shoulder and propped the tent up under my arm.

I returned to the car and found Rose in the exact same position I had left her five minutes before.

I jumped in and shoved everything in the backseat.

"What's that?" Rose asked me, pointing to the tent.

"A tent," I answered, waiting for her to put it together.

"Why are we –" she started and then groaned. She put it together. "No hotel, huh?"

"We'll be harder to find at a campground," I explained. "The car will especially be harder to find. We can't get rid of it quite yet, not with your foot."

"Those poor people," she said, more to herself. "I hope their car insurance covers theft."

I know I shouldn't have been thinking about it in such a dire situation, but I loved how much she cared about other people; even strangers. Not a lot of people got to witness Rose's compassion…I was one of the lucky ones.

I followed signs to the camping ground and it wasn't long until we arrived. I got out and talked to the man about payment. After a minute or so, he took the money I was offering and gave me directions to a spot on the opposite side of the campground.

I parked the car in a place where it was almost completely hidden and got out of the car. Rose tried to help me with the tent but I refused her, insisting that she stay seated and rest her ankle.

I put up the tent in a matter of minutes, remembering all the time I had camped outside with my sisters when we were young.

I helped her inside and she sat on one side, while I sat on the other. I emptied one of the bags that contained the flashlight and propped it up so that we could both see.

"Let me see the ankle," I instructed her. She complied to my request and stretched out her leg. I pushed her dress up to her knee, ignoring the fluttering feelings as I did so.

I tested the mobility of her ankle, and studied the degree of swelling as carefully as I could, not wanting to hurt her any more than I had to.

"I don't think it's broken," I told her. "Just sprained." I removed my hands and fished through the pile until I found the bandaging material.

"That kind of thing happens when you keep jumping off roofs," she joked. "You know, we never practiced that in our training."

I smiled at her and at the fond memories of our training days; days that were now long gone.

After wrapping her ankle securely, I rummaged through the other bag and pulled out the peas.

"A bag of frozen peas?" she asked me.

I rested the bag gently on her swollen ankle. "Easier than buying a full bag of ice."

"You're pretty resourceful, Belikov," she said. "What else do you have stashed away?"

I emptied the other bag next to the other and let her see for herself.

Her face lit up when she saw the chocolate and crisps. The sight warmed me.

Suddenly, her face dropped. "You didn't buy any clothes, did you?"

"Clothes?" I asked confused.

She grabbed a handful of her dress. "I can't wear this for long. What am I going to do? Make a toga out of a blanket? You're such guy, never thinking of this stuff."

"I was thinking of injury and survival," I reasoned. "Fresh clothing's a luxury, not a necessity."

A sly look crept onto her face. "Not even your duster?"

I froze. I remembered removing my duster before my shower and hanging it on the chair in the bedroom.

"Shit," I swore in Russian.

"Don't worry, comrade," she said, an amused smile on her face. "Plenty more where that came from."

I grabbed the blankets and spread them out along the tents floor. I lay back on them. I couldn't believe I had left it behind.

"We'll get you another one," Rose said. "You know, once we find Jill, clear my name, and save the world."

"Just those things, huh?" I asked her, and we both started laughing. The sound of her laugh made everything better.

She lay down carefully beside me.

"What are we going to do?" she asked me quietly.

"Sleep." I answered her. We had to take one step at a time. I clicked off the flashlight. "Tomorrow we'll get a hold of Abe or Tasha or…someone. We'll let them handle it and get Jill where she needs to be."

I made it sound so simple.

"I feel like we failed," she spoke after a moments silence, suddenly sounding a lot younger and more vulnerable. "I was so happy back there. I thought we'd done the impossible, but it was for nothing. All this work for nothing."

"Nothing?" I repeated incredulously. "What we did…this is huge. You found Lissa's sister. Another Dragomir. I don't think you really understand the weight of that. We had almost nothing to go on, yet you pushed forward and made it happen."

"And I lost Victor Dashkov. Again." She said.

"Well, the thing about him is that he doesn't stay hidden for long." I assured her. "He's one of those people who always has to be in control. He'll have to make a move eventually and when he does – we'll get him."

"And I thought I was the optimistic one here."

"It's contagious," I replied and I couldn't help myself. I took her hand in mine and laced my fingers with hers. "You did good, Roza. Very good. Now sleep."

I wanted to get closer to her; to hug her or kiss her in some way but controlled myself.

I told her to sleep, that I would watch for a couple of hours and then we could switch. After a couple of minutes, I heard her breathing even out. I listened to the sounds of her breath and the wind blowing the trees outside. Her warm hand in mine gave me all the comfort in the world.

Suddenly, I felt myself slipping. Not being able to resist, I shut my eyes and fell asleep.


	21. Chapter 21

**I know that I've been updating more often this week than normal – am I good or what? :P It's just because I have a little spare time in the evenings :)**

**So here's the next chapter…and I think chapter 22's the one you've all been waiting for :D**

**Chapter 21**

I awoke suddenly.

I blinked a few times, trying to get my bearings.

It was then that I realised where I was…and what I was doing; my head was resting on Rose's chest, and it was her hand gently stroking my hair that had startled me from my sleep.

I looked up to meet her eyes, and saw that her deep brown orbs were staring back to me with an intensity that would have been palpable to anyone.

Her fingers continued to gently stroke my hair and my temple.

Just being with her here, felt like a dream. Nothing else in the world existed, except for the two of us and the love we had once shared.

And god I loved her.

I shifted slightly and lifted myself up so that I hovered ever so slightly over her, our lips only inches apart. I felt my lips move towards hers like they were two magnets. I brought my hand up to cup her cheek but froze.

Adrian.

She was with Adrian. This wasn't fair to him or to her.

I pulled away from her and sat up, exhaling and feeling frustrated. How could I let myself be so selfish? Rose was in a relationship with Adrian. She was _happy._

"What's wrong?" Rose asked me quietly.

"Pick." I answered, looking at her. "There are lots of choice."

"I know…" she started. "I know things have changed. I know you were wrong. I know you can feel love again."

"This isn't about love," I told her.

"If it's not about love, then what is it about?" she exclaimed.

"It's about doing the right thing," I said.

Rose fell silent.

The whole tent was submersed in a thick silence, that was until, something or someone scratched at the door.

I sprang and grabbed my stake and Rose did the same.

"Rose? Dimitri?" the voice was quiet. Had we not been so alert, I would have thought it was a whisper of the wind.

Rose moved and unzipped the tent's door and Sonya crawled inside.

"Cosy," she commented, studying the tent's interior. "You've got the farthest spot out on the campground. Took me forever to find the car you described."

"How'd you get here?" Rose asked her.

Sonya winked slyly at her. "You're not the only ones who can steal cars. Or, in my case, get people 'willingly' lend them."

"Were you followed?" I asked her. That was the important thing.

"Not that I could tell," she answered, shifting into a more comfortable way of sitting. "A couple of guardians followed me back in the neighbourhood, but I lost them a while ago. Most of them seemed more interested in you two."

"Imagine that," Rose muttered. "Too bad Victor was long gone – he might have taken priority."

"He didn't kill the queen," she replied. "But the good news is I know where they're at now."

"Where?" Rose and I asked at the same time, causing a small smile to reach Sonya's lips.

"West Michigan," she answered. "They took off in the opposite direction from Court."

"Damn," Rose cussed under her breath. "But you saw Jill? Is she okay?"

Sonya nodded in reply. "Fine. Scared, but fine. She described enough landmarks that I think we can locate their motel. I found her in a dream a couple of hours ago; they had to rest. Victor wasn't feeling well. They might still be there."

"Then we need to leave now," I said. If there was a chance Victor and Robert were still in the same place, we needed to move now before it was too late. "Once they're moving, Jill will be awake and out of contact."

We packed up as fast as we could and moved towards the car. Rose was just climbing in when Sonya stopped her.

"Hang on," she said and knelt down to examine her ankle. She reached her hands out and rested them on her ankle. Once she had moved them away, the swelling was gone, as was no doubt, the bruising.

"Thank you," Rose said. "But you shouldn't have done that…shouldn't have used the magic…"

"You needed to be in peak condition," she answered. "And the magic…it's hard to stay away from."

I understood the guilty look in Rose's face, but Sonya was right. The last thing we needed was for Rose to be injured.

I drove fast, following Sonya's directions.

"There," she said as I drove into Sturgis. "That's what she described. The Sunshine Motel."

I pulled into the parking lot by the building. The three of us sat, just watching the motel, trying to decipher the best way to go about this.

"That's their car," Sonya said suddenly, pointing to the familiar vehicle. "They're here."

"Sloppy," I commented. Victor and Robert must have been weaker than we had thought if they hadn't even changed cars. "They should have switched cars."

"That's Sydney's," Rose said. "It's not technically stolen, so it's not on any police lists. Besides, something tells me Victor and Robert aren't hot-wiring pros like some people are."

I smiled inside at her jab and nodded. "Whatever the reason, it helps us."

"How do we find them?" Sonya asked us.

"We wait," Rose said. "It's amazing enough that they even stopped this long. If they have any sense, they'll leave soon."

I agreed with her, knowing that this was the best idea we would be able to think of.

I made eye contact with Rose and found myself not able to look away from her gorgeous brown orbs. She looked away first. "The lot's easy to defend too. Not much room for escape."

I reversed and turned the car, driving it to the farthest spot I could. Once we had parked, Rose and I climbed out of the car. It was agreed that Sonya would wait in the car.

Rose and I moved to the back of the car, giving us some extra coverage.

"I don't suppose," Rose said softly. "that we're going to talk about this morning?"

I couldn't. Talking about it would only remind my body and mind of my love for her – not that they needed reminding.

"There's nothing to talk about."

"I knew you'd say that," she commented. "Actually, it was a toss-up between that and 'I don't know what you're talking about'."

"I sighed audibly. I should've known that she wouldn't let it go.

"But," she went on. "there is something to talk about. Like when you almost kissed me. And what did you mean about 'the right thing'?"

She became frustrated when I didn't answer.

"You wanted to kiss me! I saw it!"

"Just because we want something doesn't mean it's right." I replied.

"What I said…" she said slowly. "it's true, isn't it? You can love, can't you? I realise now that right after the transformation, you really didn't think you could. And you probably couldn't. But things have changed. You're getting yourself back."

Rose wasn't stupid. Reckless and impulsive, yeah…but not stupid.

I looked at her. "Yes." I said truthfully. I owed her the truth. "Things have changed…and some haven't."

"Okay, Mr. Enigma. That doesn't help explain the 'right thing' comment."

I was getting frustrated. "Rose, I've done a lot of bad things, most of which I can never fix or find redemption for. My only choice now, if I want to reclaim my life, is to go forward, stopping evil and doing what's right. And what is not right is taking another woman from another man, a man I like and respect. I'll steal cars. I'll break into houses. But there are lines I will not cross, no matter what I –"

I was cut off by the back door of the motel opening and Victor appearing. He was quickly followed by Robert and Jill, who was walking with a dazed look in her face.

"Compulsion," I whispered to Rose. "Go for Victor. I'll get Robert."

She nodded. "Jill will run as soon as the compulsion's broken. I hope."

Rose and I sprang into action and sprinted towards the group. Once we reached them, I managed to get my arms around Robert, who hadn't been expecting us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Rose had Victor pinned on the ground.

Robert struggled in my arms, but was nowhere near strong enough to throw me off.

Suddenly, the ground shook a little, throwing me off balance. I looked around for an explanation and saw Victor concentrating hard on Rose, who was on her knees on the ground, which was rolling beneath her. Victor, who was looking pale, started to build a stone wall around her.

Robert suddenly elbowed me hard in the ribs. It wasn't enough to get out of my grip, but it was enough to draw my attention away from Rose's fight. I tightened my grip on him as he struggled harder than before.

The next time I looked however, Rose's was shaking Victor vigorously, with an out of control anger. Her screams could be heard miles away.

"Get up! Get up and fight me!"

It took me a second to realise that Sonya had come running, trying to pry Rose's hands away from him. Suddenly, their positions changed and I got a look at Victor. His body was pale and lifeless and he looked…dead.

Shock coursed through my body. For the first time since I could remember, I didn't know how to react.

"He has to pay," Rose growled.

"Rose, he has! He's dead. Can't you see that? Dead. Victor's dead!"

Robert froze in my arms, taking in the scene before him.

Then he started wailing and struggling. My hands moved from around him and I pinned his arms to his back. He struggled harder in this new position, but his efforts were fruitless. He became screaming his brother's name over and over. I felt numb; I wasn't sure how I was meant to feel.

One look at Rose's face however, made me want to let go of Robert and just hold her.

"Get him out of here!" Sonya's shout brought me back to reality. I realised Robert had stopped struggling.

"Get him out of here! As far as you can!" She shouted at me. I was taken aback. I listened to her anyway and dragged Robert as best I could away.  
I realised after about thirty seconds that it would be a hell of a lot easier to just carry him, so I threw him over my shoulder.

I heard Sonya call after me again. "Get him out of here! He's trying to bring Victor back! He'll be shadow-kissed!" I suddenly understood the urgency and importance of getting Robert away from him.

I moved faster until they were out of sight. I wracked my brain for the best way to leave Robert without him being a threat. I needed to get back to my group. Back to Rose. It wouldn't be long until people came investigating the source of the noise.

So I knocked him out. I felt no remorse, though, as I left him hidden in some bushes and moved around the edge towards the car. I saw Jill leave the car and move around the parking lot, searching for something.

I moved out of the trees, making myself visible.

"There you are," Jill said and approached me. "Sonya told me to come get you."

We made our way quickly back to the car and I knocked on the window. Sonya unlocked and opened the door for us.

"Where's Robert?" she asked me once we were in.

I looked down at the body that was lying there and had to make myself look away. I had seen more than my fair share of bodies.

"Unconscious," I answered her. "Hidden, in some bushes around the corner."

"Charming," Sonya replied. "Do you think that's smart? Leaving him?"

I shrugged. I didn't know what the best thing was anymore. "I figured I shouldn't be seen carrying some unconscious guy in my arms. In fact…yes, I think we should just leave him there. He'll wake up. He's not a fugitive. And without Victor, he's…well, not harmless. But less harmful. We can't keep dragging him with us anyway."

Suddenly, Rose let out this loud, harsh laugh, making me flinch.

"He's unconscious," she said, her voice sounding strange. "Of course. Of course. You can do that. You can do the right thing. Not me."

She was rambling.

"'An animal' he said," she continued. "He was right. No higher reasoning…" she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as though creating a protective shield. Her fingernails however, dug hard into her arms, breaking skin.

"What happened?" I asked Sonya, afraid to hear the answer. This couldn't be it. This couldn't be the darkness that Rose was so terrified of. That _I _was terrified of.

"Spirit," Sonya confirmed, sending my heart plummeting. "She's pulled and pulled for so long…and managed to hold it back. It's been waiting, though. Always waiting…Is that silver?" she asked Jill, pointing to some form of jewellery.

Jill fingered the locket around her neck. "I think so."

"Can I have it?"

As Jill undid the clasp and handed the necklace to Sonya to charm, I watched the blank look in Rose's face. Life had dealt me tough cards, and I was getting through the mess that was left, and I felt I could, as long as Rose was okay and happy.

I hated spirit. I hated it for what it was doing to my Rose. And yet, I was grateful for it. If it didn't exist, I wouldn't be back here.

"The heart…" Rose said suddenly, watching the locket as Sonya's gave it to her to put on. Her gaze flicked to me. Her eyes were wild and crazed looking.

"Do you remember?" she asked me, reaching around her neck to put it on. 'Where's your heart?' you asked." I realised what she was talking about. It was one of the first lessons I had taught her. She hadn't even held a stake yet.

"And here it is." Rose continued. "Here it…" she froze.

She looked at me, Sonya and Jill, as though she was only just realising we were there. Her hand lifted and touched the locket around her neck.

"This is a healing charm," she commented.

Sonya nodded. "I didn't know if it'd work on the mind. I don't think it's a permanent fix…but between it and your own will, you'll be okay for a while."

She mulled Sonya's words over in her head, and then her gaze drifted down to the body of Victor Dashkov lying in front of her.

"What have I done?" she whispered, her voice full of grief and pain.

Jill wrapped an arm around her.

"What you had to." I said.

**AN: Please review: they really do mean so much to me. And thank you to ****everyone ****who reviewed the last one – or any other one. I love hearing from you guys! :D**


	22. Chapter 22

**Anyone got that Friday feeling? :D**

**Long chapter – and one of the most important ones if you know what I mean…it you don't…we'll you'll see ;)**

**I'm dead nervous about posting this one. Hope you guys think I did alright - The words didn't come as easy to me :/ **

**Anyway, enough talking! Enjoy it :)**

**Chapter 22**

I thought it would be a good idea to keep Rose up the front of the car with me. She was silent for the entire car ride, lost in her own thoughts.

I drove to the nearest coast, which wasn't far away. At the most desolate place, Sonya and I quickly disposed of the body and returned to Jill and Rose in the car.

After telling Rose it was 'taken care of', I continued to drive. She didn't ask questions.

Sonya and I talked about what the best way to get Jill to Court was. Rose and I couldn't bring her, for obvious reasons so we decided the best idea was for Sonya to escort her there.

"Can I call my parents?" Jill asked us during the car ride. "They'll be worried."

I understood that she wanted her parents to know she was safe, but it was still a big risk. Calling someone – anyone – would increase our chances of being tracked. After expressing this to her, Sonya promised her that she would try and get in touch with Emily through a spirit dream and Jill let the subject drop.

I glanced at Rose. She was staring into space, her face blank. It wasn't the kind of blank look she got when she was seeing through Lissa's eyes; it was the kind of look that told me that she was immersed in overwhelming feelings. It shifted after a while though and I left her alone, giving her some time to escape her feelings by checking in with her best friend.

"Is she okay?" I asked Sonya quietly.

"I dunno Dimitri. Her aura is black…blacker than it usually is. The spirit was just too much." She answered sadly.

I sighed loudly, and then glanced back at Rose. She was pale, and dark rings had appeared under her eyes. I hate that this has happened to her. It was the very last thing she deserved.

"Maybe we should stop somewhere for the night." I suggested.

"Getting some rest sounds good to me," Sonya commented. Jill nodded in agreement.

I followed signs for the nearest hotel and pulled into the parking lot. Once I had switched off the engine, Rose came back to us.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking around outside the window.

"We're stopping," I told her. "You need to rest."

"No I don't," she said immediately. "We need to keep going to Court. We need to get Jill there in time for the elections."

I knew what she was doing. If I knew anything about Rose, it was that she didn't like being looked after. I gave her a look, letting her know that I knew exactly what she was doing. "You were just with Lissa. Are the elections actually happening yet?"

"No," she admitted reluctantly after a moment's hesitation.

"Then you're getting some rest." I said.

"I'm fine," she snapped at me, her attitude raising its head.

I chose to ignore her as she grumbled on the way into the hotel.

Since we had lost Sydney, we had lost our credit cards and we definitely didn't have enough cash to pay for the rooms, so we resorted to Sonya compelling the desk clerk. Within ten minutes, we had two adjoining rooms.

"Let me talk to her alone," I murmured quietly to Sonya on the way up to the room. "I can handle it."

"Be careful," she warned me just as quietly. "She's fragile."

"You guys, I'm right here!" Rose suddenly exclaimed. I hadn't realised she could hear us, let alone that she was listening.

As we reached the two room doors, Sonya linked arms with Jill and lead her into one of the rooms. "Come on, let's order room service." She said as they walked through the door.

I opened the other door without a word and held it open for Rose. She sighed and walked into the room. I followed her in and she sat on the bed. "Can we order room service?" she asked me.

I knew she was trying to avoid talking about herself, and I wasn't going to fall for it.

I pulled up the nearest chair and sat in front of her. "We need to talk about what happened with Victor."

"There's nothing to talk about," she answered. "I really am the murderer everyone says I am. It doesn't matter that it was Victor. I killed him in cold blood."

"That was hardly cold blood." I told her.

"The hell it wasn't!" she cried suddenly, tears filling her eyes. "The plan was to subdue him and Robert so we could free Jill. Subdue. Victor wasn't a threat to me. He was an old man, for God's sake."

"He seemed like a threat," I commented quietly. "He was using his magic against you."

She shook her head and dropped it into her hands. "It wasn't going to kill me. He probably couldn't have even kept it up much longer. I could have waited it out or escaped. Hell, I did escape! But instead of capturing him, I slammed him against a concrete wall! He was no match for me. An old man. I killed an old man. Yeah, maybe he was a scheming, corrupt old man, but I didn't want him dead. I wanted him locked up again. I wanted him to spend the rest of his life in prison, living with his crimes. Living, Dimitri."

"Sonya said it wasn't your fault. She said it was a backlash of spirit." I tried to convince her.

"It was…" she said vaguely. "I never really understood what Lissa experienced in her worst moments until then. I just looked at Victor…and I saw everything evil in the world – an evil I had to stop. He was bad, but he didn't deserve that. He never stood a chance."

"You aren't listening, Rose." I said to her. "It wasn't your fault. Spirit's a powerful magic we barely understand. And its dark edge…well, we know its capable of terrible things. Things that can't be controlled."

She raised her head slowly.

"I should have been stronger than it." She said quietly.

So that was it. That was what upset her so much.

"I should have been stronger than it. I was weak."

I was at a loss of words. What was I supposed to say to that? Yes, Rose, you had a moment of weakness? Of course she did, she wasn't a superhero, she couldn't control everything that happened in her life.

"You aren't invincible." I said to her at last. "No one expects you to be."

"I do," she exclaimed. "What I did…what I did was unforgivable."

Shock coursed through me. Did she really blame herself for something she had no control of? I had never heard her go into so much detail about the darkness that she battled with every day.

"That…that's crazy, Rose. You can't punish yourself for something you had no power over." I told her.

"Yeah?" she replied. "Then why are you still –"

She stopped talking as realisation of something coursed through her.

"When?" she asked eventually. "When did it change? When did you realise you could keep living – even after all that guilt?"

I realised she was right. I had come a long way since sitting in that lone cell, confined and separate from the world. I finally felt like everything might just be okay.

"I'm not quite sure," I answered her truthfully. I thought back over the last couple of weeks in particular, searching for one moment that stood out greater than any other. It didn't exist. "In bits, really. When Lissa and Abe first came to me about breaking you out, I was ready to do it because she asked me to. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I realised it was personal too. I couldn't stand the thought of you locked in a cell, being cut off from the world. It wasn't right. No one should live like that, and it occurred to me that I was doing the same – by choice. I was cutting myself off from the world with guilt and self-punishment. I had a second chance to live, and I was throwing it away."

Her gaze never lingered from my face, her eyes transfixed.

"You heard me talk about this before," I continued, glad to have her attention. "About my goal to appreciate life's little details. And the more we continued on our journey, the more I remembered who I was. Not just a fighter. Fighting is easy. It's why we fight that matters, and in the alley that night with Donovan…" I shuddered involuntarily at the memory. "That was the moment I could have crossed over into someone who fights just to senselessly kill – but you pulled me back, Rose. That was the turning point. You saved me…just as Lissa saved me with the skate. I knew then that in order to leave the Strigoi part of me behind, I had to fight through to be what they aren't. I had to embrace what they reject; beauty, love, honour."

"Then you should understand," she said after a moment. "You just said it; honour. It matters. We both know it does. I've lost mine. I lost it out there in the parking lot when I killed an innocent."

"And I've killed hundreds," I retorted bluntly. "People much more innocent that Victor." I hated to say it out loud, but it was true…and admitting it was one step closer to recovery.

"It's not the same! You couldn't help it!" She exploded. "Why are we repeating the same things over and over?"

"Because they aren't sinking in!" I exclaimed back. "You couldn't help it either. Feel guilty. Mourn this. But move on. Don't let it destroy you. Forgive yourself."

Suddenly, she leapt up, making me jump in surprise. She leaned down so her face was inches from my own, her lips inches from mine.

"Forgive myself? That's what you want? You of all people?" she shouted.

Her words didn't even register with my mind. I was too pre-occupied with her proximity. I nodded in reply to whatever she had said.

"Then tell me this," she continued. "You say you moved past the guilt, decided to revel in life and all that. I get it. But have you, in your heart, really forgiven yourself? I told you a long time ago that I forgave you for everything in Siberia, but what about you? Have you done it?"

"I just said –" I started.

"No." she said. "It's not the same. You're telling me to forgive myself and move on. But you won't do it yourself. You're a hypocrite, comrade. We're either both guilty or both innocent. Pick."

I was starting to get frustrated now. They were totally different situations.

I stood up to my full height.

"It's not that simple." I told her.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "It is that simple," she retorted. "We're the same! Even Sonya says we are. We've always been the same, and we're both acting the same stupid way now. We hold ourselves to a higher standard than everyone else."

I was about to retort when her words completely registered with me.

"I – Sonya? What does she have to do with any of this?"

"She said our auras match," she explained, sounding tired. "She said we light up around each other. She says it means you still love me and that we're in sync, and…" she sighed loudly and took a few steps in the other direction. "I don't know. I shouldn't have mentioned it. We shouldn't buy into this aura stuff when it comes from magic users who are already half-insane."

So Sonya knew how I felt, and Rose didn't believe her.

"If I let this stop me," Rose said quietly, leaning her forehead against the window glass. "If I do nothing…then that's the greater evil. I'll do more good by surviving. By continuing to fight and protect others."

"What are you saying?" I asked her.

"I'm saying…I forgive myself. That doesn't make everything perfect, but it's a start." She said, absentmindedly trailing her finger along the glass. "Who knows? Maybe that outburst in the parking lot let out some of the darkness Sonya says is in my aura. Sceptic that I am, I have to give her some points. She was right that I was at breaking point, that all I needed was a spark."

There was a long pause.

Why I felt it was important that she at least knew how I felt about her, I don't know. But it was.

"She was right about something else too," I told her.

"What's that?" she asked, turning to face me. The light from the window shining around her form.

"That I do still love you."

She just stared at me in shock, obviously lost for words.

"Since…since when?" she asked, sounding genuinely shocked to her core.

"Since…forever." I answered brilliantly. "I denied it when I was restored. I had no room for anything in my heart except guilt. I especially felt guilty about you—what Iʹd done—and I pushed you away. I put up a wall to keep you safe. It worked for a while—until my heart finally started accepting other emotions. And it all came back. Everything I felt for you. It had never left; it was just hidden from me until I was ready. And again . . . that alley was the turning point. I looked at you . . . saw your goodness, your hope, and your faith. Those are what make you beautiful. So, so beautiful.ʺ

"So it wasn't my hair," she said, jokingly. She always joked when she wasn't sure how to respond.

"No," I answered her anyway. "Your hair was beautiful too. All of you. You were amazing when we first met, and somehow, inexplicably, you've come even farther. You've always been pure, raw energy, and now you control it. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met, and I'm glad to have had that love for you in my life. I regret losing it." Letting her go was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. "I would give anything – anything – in the world to go back and change history. To run into your arms after Lissa brought me back. To have a life with you. It's too late, of course, but I've accepted it."

There was a selfish part inside me. One that didn't care about Adrian, or honour. One that just wanted to be with Rose, not having to consider any other factors.

"Why…why is it too late?" she asked me quietly.

"Because of Adrian," I answered. I would always regret not taking her into my arms when I was changed back for the rest of my life. "Because you've moved on. No, listen," I said when I saw she was about to interrupt me. "You were right to do that after how I treated you. And more than anything else, I want you to be happy once we clear your name and get Jill recognised. You said yourself that Adrian makes you happy. You said you love him." That selfish part of me begged her to deny it.

"But…you just said you love me," she said, as though wrapping her own head around it. "That you want to be with me."

"And I told you: I'm not going to pursue another man's girlfriend. You want to talk honour? There it is in its purest form."

She walked towards me until she was right in front of me. She raised her hands and rested them on my chest. My own hands, as a reflex, gripped her wrists; half of me telling myself to push her away, the other half, to hold her tight.

As I looked into her beautiful brown eyes, and down at her full, plump lips, all I wanted to do was kiss her and just be with her forever. I fought against my feelings. Hard.

"You should have told me," she said. "You should have told me this a long time ago."

She kept talking without pausing.

"I love you."

My world froze when she spoke those three words.

"I've never stopped loving you. You have to know that."

I tried to remember to breathe.

"It wouldn't have made any difference," I told her, at the same time trying to convince myself. "Not with Adrian involved. I mean it. I won't be that guy, Rose. I won't be that man who takes someone else's woman. Now, please. Let go. Don't make this any more difficult."

My will power was wavering. There was no way it would stay intact if I didn't get away from her soon.

Instead of backing away, she got closer, pushing her body close to mine and spreading her fingers out on my chest. She was so close now that I could smell the scent of shampoo wafting from her hair.

"I don't belong to him," she said in a low voice. "I don't belong to anyone. I make my own choices."

"And you're with Adrian."

"But I was meant for you."

And with that, my argument, along with my will power and self-control crumbled away.

I leaned down to meet her lips at the same time she was reaching up. I held her smaller frame tight to my body and moved our bodies towards the bed. The back of her knees hit the side of the bed and, as one, we fell back onto the surface.  
I trailed my hands along her body. It had been way too long since I had been with her like this. I had missed the feel of her smooth, soft skin against mine more than I could have imagined. I didn't just want her; I needed her.

What we did then, was so full of love. So full of the love and feelings we had felt for each other before, and had never stopped feeling.

This was what I needed.

I felt at peace.

When we'd finished, I held her close to my body still, never wanting to let her go. She seemed to feel the same as her arms held me as tightly as I was holding her.

"I'm glad you gave in," she said, a little breathlessly. "I'm glad your self-control isn't as strong as mine."

I burst out laughing.

"Roza, my self-control is ten times stronger than yours."

She lifted her head from my chest and moved her hand up to my face, where she swept some hair out of my face; her gorgeous fingers sending tingles through me. "Oh yeah? That's not the impression I just got."

"Wait until next time," I warned her. "I'll do things that'll make you lose control within seconds."

I saw the humour mixed with desire in her eyes after I said this.

That's why shock coursed through me when she next spoke.

"There may not be a next time."

"What? Why?"

"We have a couple of things to do before this happens again." She explained.

"Adrian." I guessed, knowing that he was definitely one of those 'things' to deal with.

She nodded. "And that's my problem, so put your honour-able thoughts aside. I have to face him and answer for this. I will. And you…you still have to forgive yourself if we're going to be together."

I felt remorse return inside me. I didn't even know how to begin to do such a thing.

"Rose –" she cut me off, staring into my eyes unflinchingly, letting me now that she was absolutely serious.

"I'm serious. You have to forgive yourself. For real. Everyone else has. If you can't, then you can't go on either. We can't."

It was then that I realised just how much she had grown in the last couple of months.

She really was the most amazing woman I had ever met.

"I don't know, I don't know if I can…it I'm ready." I told her truthfully.

"Decide soon then," she replied. "You don't have to right this second, but eventually…"

For a moment I thought she was going to get up and leave, but I relaxed when she laid her head back down on my chest.

After a while of lying there in silence, I realised Rose had drifted off to sleep. I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some rest as well.

After all, we had a long day ahead of us.


	23. Chapter 23

**Okay, well, I only got about two reviews for the last chap :/ I'm really sorry if it wasn't okay – I was really nervous about uploading it and maybe I should have taken another look at it. I'm sorry guys and I hope this one makes up for it. **

**I've nearly completed writing this story now :( but still tweaking and editing it. I'll update again soon after this one – it could be a few days though :)**

**Chapter 23**

I woke suddenly when I heard a soft knocking on the door of our room.

Rose was still wrapped up in a tight embrace in my arms; one I hated to break.

I lifted her arm from around my waist and gently eased myself up out of the bed. I made sure to gently place her head back down on the warm pillow. She sighed happily in her sleep and snuggled down into the duvet.

I smiled happily at her.

Happy.

One emotion that was also completely new to me after the last few months…it was also the greatest.

The soft knocking repeated itself.

I turned away from Rose and began picking up any item of my clothes I could find scattered around the room. I pulled them on quickly and went to answer the door.

I didn't open the door all the way; it was just wide enough me to see who ws standing on the other side.

It was Sonya, and she was standing there with an almost smug smile, like she knew exactly what Rose and I had just done.

Then again, she probably did.

"Dimitri," she greeted me with an amused grin.

"Sonya," I replied nonchalantly.

"Can I talk to you a sec?" she asked and gestured behind me into room.

"I don't…think that's a good idea," I answered. Understanding lit up her face.

"Of course," she said grinning. "It's just…" she glanced around carefully and lowered her voice. "I got a call from the front desk. The staff are beginning to realise that something was odd about our check-in. We need to get out of here."

"Oh, ok." I answered. "Eh, could Rose and I meet you and Jill out here in about ten minutes?"

"Sure," she said, her joking attitude returning. "Try not to take _too _long." She said and returned to her own room.

I shook my head. It was hard to feel embarrassed when I was this happy inside.

I shut the door behind her and went back to Rose. I hated waking her.

"Rose," I whispered. She didn't stir so I shook her a little. "Rose."

Her eyes fluttered open.

"We have to –" I began.

"Oh my god," she said suddenly. My senses went onto alert. "You will not believe what I just saw."

"Is Lissa okay?" I asked her worriedly.

"Yeah, fine, but –"

"Then we'll worry about that later," I told her. "Right now, we have to leave."

Her eyes moved from my face down my fully-clothed body. "What's going on?"

"Sonya came by – don't worry." I said and smiled as a shocked expression showed itself on her face. "I got dressed and didn't let her come in. But she said the front desk called. They're starting to realise we had an unusual check-in. We need to get out of here."

"No problem," Rose said straight away and threw the covers off herself. The sight of her without any clothes on right in front of me almost made me tackled back onto the bed.

"You see something you like?" she asked me seductively, echoing something she had said to me what felt like years ago. It had been the first time I realised just how beautiful she really was.

"Lots," I replied, scanning her body again. It was impossible to take my eyes away from her.

So it was surprising when she looked away and started pulling on her clothes.

"Don't' forget," she said to me quietly. "Don't forget…" she trailed off.

"I know, Roza. I haven't forgotten." I told her. It was something that I really was going to work on. I hadn't a clue how I would start to forgive myself, or how long it would take – I just knew that no matter what, if being with Rose was the result…I would do it.

She slipped on her shoes and we walked out into the hallway. Sonya and Jill were already there waiting.

Nobody said much as Sonya checked us out – using a little compulsion of course – until we were on the road.

"I need you to make a charm," Roza said to Sonya in the car. "And we have to stop in Greenston."

"Greenston?" I asked her. "What for?"

"It's where the Alchemist's are being held," she answered.

She took a deep breath.

"And it's where we're going to find proof that Daniella Ivashkov murdered Tatiana."

I processed what Rose had told us in the car as we drove further.

"Pull over here a sec," Rose said suddenly, pointing to an old gift shop on the side of the road. I pulled up in front of the place.

"What?" I asked her.

"They might have something silver," she replied. "I'll be back in a minute."

She grabbed some cash and walked swiftly into the shop, only to return less than two minutes later with a small brown paper bag.

"Did you get something?" Jill asked her.

"Yeah," she answered. "They didn't have much but it'll do."

She took the small silver bracelet out of the bag and handed it to Sonya who had agreed to try and charm it for her.

I pulled out and we continued driving. I had to stop myself from looking at Roza every couple of minutes. She was checking in on Lissa once again.

Thinking about what she had told us, I had to admit, Daniella seemed like the most likely suspect. She had the motives definitely. All we needed was the evidence.

Rose shifted slightly in her seat and I looked sideways at her from the driver's seat. I noticed the blank look was gone replaced with an expression I knew all too well.

"That's a dangerous look," I commented.

"What look?" she asked, putting on an innocent face.

"The one that says you just got some idea," I answered.

"I didn't just get an idea," she said. "I got a great idea."

Rose turned in her seat and addressed Jill.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked her.

"I'm not sure," Jill's small voice answered her from one of the backseats. "A lot's kind of happened. And I don't really get what's going to happen next. I feel like…like some kind of object that's going to be used in someone's master plan. Like a pawn."

"You're not an object or a pawn," Rose reassured her, her voice kind. "But you're very, very important, and because of you, a lot of good things are going to happen."

"It won't be that simple though, will it?" she asked her. "Things are going to get worse before they get better, aren't they?"

"Yeah," Rose answered her. "But then you'll get to contact your mom…and well, like I said, good things will happen. Guardians always say 'They come first' when we're talking about Moroi. It's not exactly the same for you, but in doing this…well…" she trailed off.

"Yeah, I get it," Jill said. "It's for the greater good, right?"

When we were nearing Greenston, Sonya finally finished charming the silver bracelet Rose had given her. Rose slipped it on her wrist. She immediately became blurry, but was still recognisable to me.

"Well?" she asked.

"I don't see anything," Sonya said. "but then, I wouldn't."

"You seem a little blurry…like I just need to blink a few times." Jill said.

"Same here." I told her.

"That's how it should look to people who know she's got a charm on," Sonya explained. "Hopefully, to the other guardians, she'll be wearing a different face."

Rose directed me towards a dark empty parking lot outside a closed restaurant in Greenston. There was a car parked in the back corner.

I pulled up near to the car and the man I recognised as Mikhail Tanner stepped out…along with Adrian Ivashkov.

We all stepped out of the vehicle. Mikhail started walking quickly towards us but stopped in his tracks when he saw who was with us. Sonya let out a cry and ran towards him.

They collided and he wrapped his arms around him. They cried as they embraced, and despite what had happened between Rose and I earlier on I still felt regret for not going straight to her when I had been changed back. I hated the fact that I had hurt her.

"Mikhail – I'm sorry – I'm so sorry –"

"It doesn't matter," he replied, kissing her. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters except that we're together again."

She cried and they held each other tightly. My eyes automatically made their way to Rose. She had been staring fixedly at the reunited couple but her gaze now locked with mine.

_You need to forgive yourself…_

The words pained me. But I would try. I would do anything for her.

She looked away from me once again and back to Sonya and Mikhail. I continued to watch her as she wrapped her arm around a sniffling Jill, tears she thought no one could see building in her eyes.

Mikhail looked away from Sonya and to Rose.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you for this. Anything you need. Anything at all –"

"Stop, stop," she replied. "I'm glad…glad to have done it, and well…it wasn't really me at all."

"Still…" Mikhail went on. "You've given me my world back."

I felt pride. Somehow, Rose always managed to do the impossible, even when she was doubted.

"I'm so happy for you…and I want you to have this, to just enjoy this right now. But I have a favour. One more favour." She said to him.

"I figured that's why he brought me here," Mikhail said, nodding his head in Adrian's direction.

"I need you to get me into the hotel where the Alchemist's are staying." Rose said and Mikhail's smile dropped.

"Rose…I can't get you into any place. You being this close to Court is dangerous enough."

Rose retrieved the charmed bracelet from where she had put it safely in her pocket. "I'll have a disguise," she said and held it up. "They won't know it's me. Is there a reason you'd have to see the Alchemists?"

"They'll have guardians near their rooms," he said after a moment of thought. "We could probably pass ourselves off as relief."

I nodded in agreement. "If it's too different from their scheduled shift change, it'll raise eyebrows…but hopefully you'll have long enough to get in and find out what you need. The guardians are probably more worried about the Alchemists getting out than other guardians getting in."

"Absolutely," Mikhail agreed. "So it's you and me, Rose?" he asked.

"Yup," she answered. "The fewer, the better. Just enough to question Sydney and Ian. I guess everyone else waits here."

I hated the idea of Rose walking willingly into the arms of the guardians without me beside her to protect her, but I had to trust that she would look after herself.

As Adrian struck up a conversation with Jill, I signalled for Rose to follow me. I walked around the car and followed me out of sight.

"This is dangerous," I muttered quietly. "If that charm fails, you probably aren't going to get out of that hotel."

"It won't fail," she replied. "Sonya's good. Besides, if we're caught, maybe they'll bring me back to Court instead of killing me. Imagine how much that will slow the elections."

Normally, I liked the way she found humour in everything, but I needed her to take this as serious as I was.

"Rose, I'm serious." I told her.

She grabbed my hand, her thumb started massaging my palm in a calming circular motion.

"I know, know." She said. "This'll be easy. We should be in and out in under an hour, but if we aren't…If we aren't, then send Adrian to Court with Jill, and you and Sonya hide out somewhere until…I don't know."

"Don't worry about us," I told her, squeezing her hand. "You just be careful." I leaned in and kissed her forehead, lingering my lips on her soft skin.

Just as Adrian walked around the car.

"Little dhampir, are you – "

He stopped when he saw us. Rose pulled her hand away from mine and I took a small step back.

"Let's hurry," Mikhail said, joining us around the back of the car. "Sonya says you guys have a ticking clock at Court too."

"Yeah…" Rose replied.

"Go," I told her. I felt guilty. I'd never meant for Adrian to find out about Rose and I this way. My first instinct was to go and talk to the man, but Rose obviously didn't want me to.

"Remember," she murmured to me. "Talking to him is my responsibility. Not yours."

Rose and Mikhail walked away towards his car and I watched as they drove away. I broke away from the group, running my hand through my hair, and trying not to think about the fact that Rose was walking into danger.

It took a fair bit of my self-control to not try and talk to Adrian. When I looked over at him, he had also broken away from the group and was smoking a cigarette. Jill and Sonya were engaging in a conversation.

I walked back and forth, rubbing my face with my hands and glancing in the direction Rose had left to see if she was returning.

Eventually, after just under an hour, the car came driving back in our direction.


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you to the few people who reviewed – they mean so much! :D**

**New chapter for you guys – aren't I good? :P Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 24**

They pulled up and Rose jumped out. I felt relief surge through me seeing that she was alright.

"It wasn't Daniella," she said, approaching us.

And then she told us who the murderer was.

To say I was shocked was an understatement.

"Impossible, I can't believe that," Adrian commented coldly after a moment. "You Alchemist pals are wrong."

"The motives are there…" Rose muttered. "And they are political. Ambrose was right."

"Ian's ID is hard evidence," I said, still trying to organise my thoughts after hearing the true identity of the killer. "But there are a lot of other holes, a lot of pieces that don't fit into it."

"Yeah," Rose said. "Like why I was set up for the fall."

That was one question I had. Why had she blamed Rose? And how had she gotten into the queen's chambers in the first place?

"We need to get back to Court," Mikhail said, breaking us all out of our thoughts. "Or I'm going to be missed."

"And you've got to make your debut," Rose said and smiled comfortingly at Jill.

There was only room for five in the car, so it was decided that Mikhail, Rose, Jill, Adrian and I would go while Sonya would stay behind.

Rose slipped her charmed bracelet back on, hiding her identity. Another problem was that I would be recognised going back into Court so had to be disguised as well. Having left Sonya behind, meant that Adrian was the one who had to do it. Adrian however, didn't seem like he was going to help.

"We have to help Lissa," Rose said to him when he didn't answer.

"Time's running out," she pleaded. "Please. Please help us."

He took a deep breath. There was silence for a moment before he eventually nodded and agreed. "Let's go."

We took off in the direction of Court. Mikhail drove while I sat in the passenger's seat. Rose sat with Adrian and Jill in the back.

"Motive? Yes." Rose said as we analysed every part of the data we had collected. "Ability? Yes. Paying off Joe? Yes. Access to Tatiana's chambers…Yes."

I glanced back at her. "Really?" I asked her. "That was one piece I couldn't figure out."

"Pretty sure I know how she did it," Rose replied. "But the anonymous letter to Tatiana doesn't make sense. Not to mention obscuring Lissa's family – or trying to kill her."

"We might be dealing with more than one person," I suggested.

"Like a conspiracy?" she asked me shocked.

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "I mean, someone else had a grudge against the queen. But not someone who'd go as far as to kill her. Two people, two agendas. Probably not even aware of each other. We're mixing up the evidence." Daniella was still a pretty big suspect in my opinion; not that I could say that with her son sitting right behind me.

Both Rose and Mikhail were silent, processing my words.

While we were trying to conjure up more probable ideas, Adrian was uttering soothing words to a slightly distressed Jill.

"What do I do?" she whispered to him.

"Act like you deserve to be there," he replied surely. "Don't let them intimidate you."

"What about Lissa? What's she going to think of me?"

I wonder briefly how Lissa would react to finding out about her father having an illegitimate daughter, but I quickly cast the thought away – Rose was my priority.

"Doesn't matter," Adrian told her. "Just act the way I told you."

As Mikhail approached the gates of Court, I felt my nerves set in. If we were caught, we were in trouble.

They recognised Mikhail of course, but overlooked Rose and I. They even overlooked Jill, which, in my opinion, was pretty careless but I was thankful in this case.

"Oh my god," Rose said as we drove in through the gates. "It worked."

"Now what?" Jill asked us.

"Now we re-establish the Dragomir line and call out a murderer," Rose answered.

"Oh, is that all?" Adrian said sarcastically, but there was more to that sarcasm. His tone was cold.

"You know," Mikhail said. "that the instant your illusions are dropped, you two are going to be jumped by guardians and thrown back into jail. Or worse."

I looked at Rose who looked at me. I knew she was thinking about those jail cells back at Court.

"We know," she answered. "But if everything works out…we won't have to stay there for long. They'll use what we've found out and then eventually set us free."

She was putting on a brave face but I could see the fear hidden in her eyes.

The five of us left the car walked towards the ballroom's building. There were hundreds of people surrounding the entrance. Mikhail told us quietly that people were not allowed in but guardians were under certain conditions.

He managed to get us through, using Adrian as a reason. The guardians didn't seem to notice Jill as we walked through.

A disguised Rose led the way up through the loud, crowded room, the rest of us following closely. She stopped halfway and turned to face us.

"We need someone to get the room's attention," she said loudly, trying to be heard over the noise. "Someone not afraid to make a spectacle – I mean, besides me, of course."

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke loudly.

"Mikhail? Where have you been?" We all watched as Abe Mazur stalked towards us.

"Well, speak of the devil," Rose said. "Exactly what we need."

Abe narrowed his eyes at her; not in a menacing way, more like he was trying to figure out who the hell she was. I could see in his face that he knew something wasn't right with this mysterious disguised person.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"The usual, old man," Rose said light heartedly, using her old nickname for him. "Danger, insane plans…you know, the stuff that runs in our family."

Abe's eyes narrowed once again at her use of the nickname. Realisation and incredulity showed on his face.

"Rose? Is that you? Where have you been?" If I was not mistaken, there was also a small bit of relief hidden in his eyes…as well as disappointment.

"We need the room's attention," she told him, ignoring his previous questions. "We've got a way to settle this whole argument."

"Well, we've at least got a way to start another one," Adrian commented, obviously annoyed.

"I trusted you at my hearing," Rose said to her father, ignoring Adrian. "Can't you trust me now?"

"You apparently didn't trust me enough to stay put in West Virginia." He retorted wryly.

"Technicalities," Rose replied. "Please. We need this."

"And we're short on time," I added, trying to get a move on.

Abe's gaze turned from his daughter to me.

"Let me guess. Belikov?" He didn't seem so sure, but it was a good guess.

"Dad," Rose started, immediately grabbing her father's attention after using the word 'dad'. "We have to hurry. We've got the killer – and we've got Lissa's…A chance to change Lissa's life."

Abe looked around and seemed to be searching for someone. After a small inclination of his head, Rose's mother, Janine Hathaway joined our little group.

"Who are these people?" she asked him.

"Guess," Abe replied. "Who would be foolish enough to break into Court after escaping it?"

Shock hit Janine's face. "How –"

"No time," Abe stopped her. "I have a feeling half the guardians in this room are going to be all over us soon. Are you ready for that?"

After a moment's hesitation when she realised what was happening, she answered.

"Yes."

"Me too," Mikhail added.

"I guess there are worse odds," Abe said, studying us.

We followed Abe as he made his way up to the podium where Nathan Ivashkov was standing, half-attempting to get the crowd's attention.

Abe simply shoved him out of the way and took hold of the microphone. Suddenly, he let out a ear-piercing whistle, effectively grabbing the room's attention, as well as deafening half of them.

The room went silence and looked in our direction.

"Now that you have the sense to keep your mouths shut," Abe said confidently. "We have…some things to say."

He stepped back from the mic and muttered a few words to Rose, who took the mic from him.

She cleared her throat and began to speak. "We're here to, uh, settle this debate once and for all." She didn't sound as confident as she usually did; it probably had something to do with the hundreds of faces staring up at her.

"The laws can stay the way they are," she said, her voice growing stronger. "Vasilisa Dragomir is entitled to her Council vote – and eligible to be a full candidate for the throne. There's another member in her family. She isn't the only Dragomir left."

Whispering broke out among the crowd after she said this. I carefully watched the guardians, who were moving as one to surround us. It dawned on me that the circle was not to trap us; it was to keep us safe from the mob.

Rose turned and beckoned Jill, who unfroze and took a few tentative steps towards her.

"This is Jillian Mastrano Dragomir," Rose continued once Jill was by her side. "She's Eric Dragomir's illegitimate daughter – but she is his daughter and officially part of the bloodline."

"I am a Dragomir," Jill spoke shakily into the microphone, her voice echoing in the silent courtroom. "Our family has its quorum, and my s-sister has all her rights."

Abe sensing the evident outburst of outrage, jumped towards the two girls and the microphone. "For those who don't believe this, a DNA test will clear up any doubts about her lineage."

There were a few seconds silence, and then the shouting began.

"Eric Dragomir didn't have any other children, illegitimate or not!"

"This is a scam!"

"Show us the proof! Where are your tests?"

"Well…he was kind of a flirt…"

And one more, that left everybody in a stunned silence.

"He did have another daughter."

It came from none other than Daniella Ivashkov.

Looking down at her, she had stood up from her seat as she addressed the room and confirmed what Rose was saying.

"Eric Dragomir had an illegitimate daughter, with a woman named Emily Mastrano – a dancer, if I recall correctly. He wanted it kept a secret and needed certain things done – things he couldn't do himself – to help with that. I was one of the few who helped. And honestly, I wouldn't have minded it staying secret either."

She directed the last part at Rose, with a bitter smile.

"Enough that you'd make certain papers disappear," Rose replied, not bothering to take the microphone back out of Abe's hands. She didn't need it anyway, her confidence spoke volumes.

"Yes." Daniella replied.

"Because if the Dragomirs faded, spirit might too," Rose continued. "And Adrian would be safe. Spirit was getting too much attention too fast, and you needed to get rid of any evidence about Jill to kill Vasilisa's credibility. Then why admit it now?"

"Because you're right," Daniella answered, shrugging. "One DNA test will show the truth."

The crowd seem to gasp as one in shock and awe. Looking into the crowd, I still saw a lot of disbelieving scornful faces.

"What I'd like to know is:" Daniella said loudly, her eyes scrutinising Rose. "who in the world are you?"

I looked over at Rose and saw her hesitate. After a moment, I saw the decision in her face.

Now was a better time than any.

She ripped the charmed bracelet from around her wrist.

"I'm Rose Hathaway."

**Please please please review :)**


	25. Chapter 25

**SURPRISE! I'm uploading this one RIGHT NOW because you guys are so great :)**

**I was seriously nearly crying at the end of writing this! :L **

**Chapter 25**

Chaos erupted in the hall.

There were people screaming and crying out in the audience.

I would have rolled my eyes if the situation wasn't so serious.

Many shocked stares were also turning in my direction so I guessed Adrian had dropped my disguise when Rose had revealed herself.

As one, the guardians surged towards us, stakes and guns in hand. Just as quickly, Janine and Mikhail moved in front to defend. I made an instinctive move to follow but Rose stopped me.

"Don't," she warned. I looked in her direction. She hadn't moved from where she was standing and she had her hands held up in surrender. I figured she wanted me to do the same. I hated admitting it, but she was probably right. Showing guardians that we meant no harm was the first step.

"Wait," Rose said to them. "Please listen to us first."

The guardians formed a strong tight circle around our group. Abe moved from behind Rose to join Janine and Mikhail blocking us. Jill followed him. This immediately creating a complication for the guardians.

"Haul us off later if you want," Rose continued. "We won't resist. But you have to let us talk first. We know who killed the queen."

"So do we," said a guardian. Looking at him, I recognised his face. I didn't know him well. He was a few years older than me. I had never liked him.

"Now the rest of you," he continued. "back away before you're hurt. These are dangerous fugitives."

"They need to talk," Abe said. "They have evidence."

He spoke with the confidence that Rose often summoned up from somewhere.

"Let them talk." Lissa suddenly spoke up, and pushed her way through the circle. One of the guardians grabbed her arm before she got too close.

"They've come this far," Lissa said. "They were right about…Jill." You could see in her face that it pained her to say so, but there was a certain determination in her eyes. It was a similar determination that I had seen so many times in Rose's face when she was protecting Lissa.

"You've got them," Lissa said. "They can't go anywhere. Just let them talk. I've got evidence to support their case too."

"I'd hold off on sharing that, Liss." Rose muttered to her, earning a confused look from Lissa.

"Let's hear them," another guardian said. "After an escape like they pulled, I'd really like to know what brought them back. But, I'm sure you two will understand we'll have to restrain you before you make your great reveal."

I turned to look at Rose to see what she wanted to do. This was probably the best option we could have hoped for.

"Okay," I agreed, after making eye contact with Rose. "It's okay. Let them get through." I directed the last part at the group who had took up guard in front of us.

"Do it." Rose said, authority leaking into her voice. "Don't end up as our cellmates."

After a minute of no movement, Mikhail backed off. Followed by the others. As soon as they had taken a step, guardians had gotten a hold of them and moved them away from us. Lissa stayed close by.

Four guardians out of the circle moved forward. Two of them moved towards me to restrain me and two went to Rose; one of them being the man who had agreed to hear us out.

"Get on with it," he said from Rose's side.

"I didn't kill Tatiana Ivashkov," Rose said after a moment. "I didn't like her. But I didn't kill her." She looked towards the guardian gripping her arm. "You've questioned the janitor who testified about where I was during the murder, right? And he ID'd the man who attacked Lissa as the one who paid him off to lie about where I was?"

The guardian frowned slightly and then nodded.

"There's no record of his existence – at least not with the guardians," Rose continued. "But the Alchemists know who he is. They saw him at one of their facilities – acting as someone's bodyguard. A bodyguard for someone who was let in to see Tatiana the night she died: Tasha Ozero."

On cue, Tasha leapt from her seat in outrage.

"What on earth are you saying, Rose?" she exclaimed. "Are you out of your mind?"

Rose stood tall, an air of confidence about her as she silently demanded justice.

It pained me that Tasha had been the one to do this. But it was Tasha or Rose.

And there was no competition.

"I wish I was…but it's true." Rose said. "We both know it is. You killed Tatiana."

"I never, never believed you killer her – and I've fought for you on that. Why are you doing this? Are you playing on the Strigoi taint in our family? I thought you were above that kind of prejudice."

We should've guessed that Tasha would not go down easy.

"What I'm saying has nothing to do with Strigoi," Rose replied. "I almost wish it did. You hated Tatiana for her age law and refusal to let Moroi fight."

Another member of the Ozera family stood up and spoke. "Half this Court hated Tatiana for that law. You among them."

"I didn't have my bodyguard bribe a witness or attack Lis - Princess Dragomir. And don't pretend you didn't know the guy," Rose warned. "He was your bodyguard. You were seen together."

"Rose, I can't even believe this is happening, but if James – that was his name – did whatever you're talking about, then he acted alone. He always had radical ideas. I knew that when I hired him as outside protection, but I never thought he was capable of murder."

She looked to the Council, who had been watching the whole ordeal.

"I've always believed Rose was innocent. If James is the one responsible for this, then I'm more than happy to tell you whatever I know to clear Rose's name."

I was starting to feel anger towards her. It would be so easy for her to blame this all on her bodyguard.

Christian Ozera suddenly stood up from his place beside his aunt. "Rose, how can you say any of this? You know her. You know she wouldn't do it. Stop making a scene and let us figure out how that James guy killed the queen."

"James couldn't have staked Tatiana," Rose announced. "He had an injured hand. It takes both hands for a Moroi to stake someone. I've seen it happen twice now. And I bet if you can get a straight answer out of Ethan Moore…James wasn't there the night Tatiana died, was he? And I don't think Daniella Ivashkov was either, despite what Princess Dragomir was told earlier. But Tasha was. She was in the queen's chambers – and you didn't report it."

I don't think I'd ever felt so much pride for Rose.

Ethan looked pale, but slowly shook his head. "Tasha wouldn't kill anyone."

"Rose!" Christian exclaimed angrily. "Stop it!" I knew it was hard for Rose to hurt Christian like this.

Lissa intervened, taking a few steps forward. "I know it's wrong…but if we used compulsion on the suspects…"

"Don't even suggest that!" Tasha shouted. "Stay out of this. Your future's on the line here. A future that could make you great and achieve the things our people need."

"A future you could manipulate." Rose stated. "Lissa believes in a lot of the reforms you do…and you think you could convince her of ones she doesn't. Especially if she's with your nephew. That's why you've fought so hard to change the quorum law. You wanted her to be queen."

Christian moved towards Rose to stop her but Tasha held him back. "That's idiotic," he said. "If she wanted Lissa to be queen, why make that James guy attack her?"

Rose didn't seem to know how to answer that one.

That was one question however, that I could answer.

"Because no one was supposed to die," I said to the room. "You didn't expect a guardian to be with her. James was probably going to fake an attack and run…enough to generate sympathy and more support for Vasilisa. Which it certainly did – just a little more severely."

Tasha's gaze turned to me, looking heartbroken. "Dimka, not you too."

I didn't feel regret. Tasha deserved whatever she got, even if we had been friends for years, I knew that.

"And that's why I took the fall," Rose muttered quietly.

"Hmm?" I questioned. She shook her head slightly. She looked to one of the guardians holding her. "You can take me into custody, I meant it. But you don't you think you've got enough to take her – and Ethan – in too?"

The man just stared at Rose for a few moments as she deciphered what to do. The room held its breath.

"Take Lady Ozero. And Moore. We'll question them," he said finally.

Guardians moved towards Tasha, and she panicked. She fought with all her might, effectively taking down at least one guardian.

The crowd started to also panic and the room became chaos as people pushed and shoved to try and get out. However, all of that noise and movement ceased when a gunshot echoed throughout the room.

Tasha had somehow gotten a hold on one of the guardian's guns, as well as a young Moroi girl. I recognised her as the girl who had gone to Spokane with Rose.

"Don't move!" Tasha yelled at the advancing guardians. She held the gun to the Moroi's temple.

The guardians froze.

Everything that happened after that was so fast and so rushed.

Lissa stepped towards Tasha quickly, begging her to see reason. "Tasha please don't –"

This was the same moment the girl had chosen to break free of Tasha's hold. Tasha, unsure of what had just happened, panicked and her finger pulled the trigger.

I saw the direction the gun was pointing and it seemed as if in slow motion as the bullet was shot from the gun.

I wasn't the only one who had come to the conclusion of who the bullet was about to hit. Rose had realised about one second before I had, and had broken free of her guardians and had managed to get her body in front of Lissa's right as the bullet hit.

There was moment of silence after the gunshot.

I felt frozen. It was the only time that my whole body had been physically frozen in fear. I watched as Rose fell backwards into Lissa's arms and my world came crashing down.

Noise flooded my ears as chaos erupted once again in the room.

"Rose! Rose!" Lissa was screaming as her best friend lay on the ground beside her. I pushed my way through the people in the way to reach them.

As I dropped to me my knees beside her, I saw red everywhere. It was on her clothes, in her beautiful hair, on the ground around her. But the scariest place was at her chest, where it was pooling and spreading fast, like a river.

"Rose! Stay with us!" Lissa was still shouting to her, tears rolling down her face.

It was one of those rare moments when I felt completely helpless, and even vulnerable I couldn't remember anything; my brain my frozen. The only thing I knew for certain was how much I loved the woman before me, and that I was going to lose her…again.

I looked into her brown eyes for what felt like the last time. They looked straight back at mine with an intensity I had never seen. They were so full of love and awe and I saw it…

I saw the forgiveness in her eyes.

Her mouth moved slightly as she looked at me, but nothing came out. She tried again but gave up after that. She was taking short gasps for breath and her eyes began to close.

As her eyes closed fully, Lissa stretched her shaking hands. She laid one on Rose's sweaty forehead and the other took her hand. I was squeezing Rose's other hand tight as Lissa closed her own eyes in concentration.

Suddenly Lissa wasn't there. Guardians had pulled her away; still believing that I was a danger. She screamed and cried desperately to let her go but they didn't listen.

I desperately pulled at Rose's clothes, trying to get a look at the wound but it was so covered in blood that I couldn't. I moved my shaky hands to her neck where I felt for her pulse.

She couldn't be dead. This couldn't be happening. I had just got her back. I couldn't exist in a world where my Roza didn't.

There it was.

Her pulse beat weakly against my fingers. It wasn't strong, but it was there.

It wasn't too late; I would make sure of that.

While I had come to this revelation, I hadn't noticed that someone else had joined me. It was one of the doctors who lived here at Court. He moved my hand out of the way urgently and pressed his own fingers against her neck, feeling for the pulse.

"We don't have long," he said urgently. "Bring her to the infirmary. Now!"

I didn't need telling twice. Scooping her up in my arms, I held her tight to my body as the doctor pushed through the crowd ahead of me.

What felt like hours later, we were at the infirmary and the doctor was shouting orders at every person he saw in a uniform.

I was instructed by a nurse to place her on a trolley and I reluctantly let her out of my arms.

I was broke into a separate room just outside of the surgery room, but was told I couldn't go any further.

I watched in fear as they wheeled Rose urgently into the surgery, wondering if it would be the last time I would ever see her alive.


	26. Chapter 26

**Because you guys are that amazing – new chapter :D I don't know how many reviews I got exactly, but between the last two updates, it was 41 – so thank you! :D**

**I am currently writing Chapter 28 – which will be the final chapter :( I know that there's like 36 chapters or something in Last Sacrifice but this will be shorter because I merged a few previous chapters :)**

**Anyway, we'll still got a few to go so enjoy :)**

**Chapter 26**

Seven hours.

Seven hours she had been in surgery.

I was currently pacing in the same room I had been in since they had wheeled her through those intimidating metal doors.

The only difference between now and then is that there was a red light shining over the door, indicating that there was an operation in progress, and that I was no longer alone.

Sitting in the seats in the room, were Rose's parents, and her friends Eddie and Mikhail.

Eddie had let me know that Lissa was currently being held in her room for protection, as well as Christian. Adrian also had to stay away.

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair in frustration.

It was the longest four hours of my entire life.

There weren't any windows in this big empty room, so I didn't know if the court was still in a state of shock at the turn of events.

Mikhail had come to us with news that the guardians had safely restrained Tasha and she was being held in the cells.

My thoughts were interrupted when the metal doors opened. My head shot over in that direction, and Abe and Janine jumped to their feet.

As the doctor approached us, I tried to read his face. Half of me just wanted to go to him and demand to know what was going on with Roza. The other half wanted to run out the door in fear of what he might tell me.

I couldn't help but notice the red blood covering his gloved hands, as well as smeared on his white coat. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

He stopped in front of us, his face unreadable.

"I've done everything I can for the time being," he said.

"What the hell does that mean?" Abe demanded.

"It means that I've safely removed the bullet that was lodged into her chest and have managed to keep her alive…for now. There's no telling whether or not she'll make it through the night."

The brief relief I had felt about knowing she was alive vanished and I felt my throat constrict once again.

"What chance does she have?" Eddie asked quietly.

Looking over at him, I could see the pain in his eyes. He had already lost one of his two best friends. This was hurting him a lot.

"At the moment, I'd say she has about a ten per cent chance of making it," the doctor replied. My stomach sank, dragging my heart and soul with it.

"I want you to prepare yourselves for the worst."

I couldn't do that. I wouldn't. The one thing Rose had never done was give up on me. And I was not about to give up on her.

"Can we see her?" I asked him.

"The nurses are getting her cleaned up and moved to a suitable room. We'll let you know when you can come in." He replied and wiped his forehead with his arm. On closer inspection, his face had lines and his eyes had dark rings surrounding them. It had been a long day for all of us.

"Thank you doctor." Mikhail said and the doctor walked away.

I moved away from the still silent group and sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. I placed my face in my hands.

Ten per cent. That was it. That was all the chance she got after everything she'd been through? After everything _we'd _been through; this was how it was going to end?

It couldn't. I wouldn't let it.

Mikhail left along with Eddie to visit Lissa and let her know what was going on.

The doctor returned a short while later and let us know that it was okay to come in now.

I wanted more than anything to jump up and run to my Roza, but we had special orders to not allow any more than two visitors at a time, so I let Rose's parents walk in ahead of me.

They were in there about an hour as I waited impatiently, trying to remind myself that they had every right to stay with their daughter while she was on the verge of death.

Abe eyed me suspiciously as he walked with Janine out the door. I didn't dwell on it and I went to see Rose.

Stopping outside the door, I took a deep breath and walked through.

Seeing her nearly broke my heart all over again.

She was pale - ghostly pale. And she was connected to monitors of all sorts. Looking at the screen of one, I realised it was her heart monitor…and the beats were very weak.

I sat in the seat by her bedside and took her soft hand in mine.

It was cold.

I pulled the blankets higher up on her body until they were beneath her chin, and cupped her small hand between my two larger ones, attempting to warm it.

"Roza," I whispered to her. Even I could hear the worry in my voice as I pleaded with her.

"I need you."

I didn't say anything else as I held her hand, not ever wanting to let go.

I thought about the last time I had looked into those brown eyes. They had been so full of love and forgiveness…and that was the moment I knew.

I really could forgive myself.

If Roza was able to forgive me for all the horrible things I had done to her, then I could to. I wouldn't forget them. No. I would never forget.

But that didn't mean I couldn't move on. It didn't mean that I couldn't be perfectly happy, living my life with the woman I loved by my side.

For hours I stared at her unconscious body, the only signs of life were the slight rise and fall of her chest, and the constant beeping on the heart monitor.

Each hour I hoped and prayed that she would make it through to the next.

Suddenly the doctor entered.

"Dimitri…did you stay here all night?" he asked me.

"Is it morning?" I asked surprised.

"Yes."

"Then yes, I stayed here all night." I answered him.

Then his words registered. _It was morning._

Rose had made it through the night.

The doctor did a routine check, peeking under her eyelids and testing her pulse.

"She's a lucky one." He said when he had finished, taking something down on his clipboard.

"She's going to be okay?" I asked him, not daring to get my hopes up.

"She's going to be okay." He confirmed.

My whole body released the tension it had gathered during the night. I felt my heart knit itself back to together. I squeezed Rose's hand and brought it to my lips and kissed it lightly.

Just then, Lissa ran in.

"Oh my god, Rose," She said, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. They wouldn't let me out to see you. How is she?" she asked the doctor.

"Let's just say that she's a very lucky girl." He replied. "I'll be back in a while to check on things."

"So she's going to be okay?" Lissa asked me, hope in her eyes, once he had left.

"Seems like it." I replied, feeling the smile on my face.

"Oh thank god. I thought…when I saw…" she broke off, swallowing. "I thought she wasn't going to make it," she finished in a whisper.

I stayed quiet and just watched Rose as Lissa gained control of herself. After a minute, she sat down on the other side of Rose's bed facing me.

"You guys are back together, aren't you?" she asked me after a moment, breaking the silence.

I gave her a questioning look.

"I can see it in your auras," she explained.

_Those damn auras…_

"Yes," I told her truthfully. "We are."

A smile broke out on her face, but she said no more.

There was a knock on the door, and an unfamiliar guardian entered.

"A message for Vasilisa Dragomir." He announced.

She looked up at him expectantly.

"I have been told to notify you that the elections will be held at one o'clock this afternoon."

"This afternoon?" Lissa exclaimed. It was a surprisingly short time but I guessed that the royals wanted the gossip of a royal Moroi's betrayal to move on to the coronation of the new king or queen. "I'll be there." She told him and he left.

Lissa left soon after that too to get ready. I wasn't planning on going to the elections so Lissa told me she'd let me know of the result while I stayed with Rose.

As one o'clock rolled around, I wondered for a while what the outcome could be. Rose had seemed pretty sure that Lissa could be the one to win it.

In all honesty, so did I.

I knew that Lissa wasn't keen on the idea but she really was the best one for the job.

An hour and a half passed when I got a message.

Lissa had been elected queen.

I looked at Rose and smiled to myself when I thought of what her reaction would be when she found out. Her heartbeat was getting stronger by the hour.

There was yet another knock at the door and the same guardian as before entered.

"The Council wishes to see you, Mr. Belikov." He announced.

I reluctantly let go of Rose's much warmer hand and stood up, straightening my clothes.

I followed the guardian out the door, noticing that there were many people everywhere, celebrating the announcement of the new queen. With all the jubilation, I thankfully, didn't get many stares.

I walked across Court to the ballroom where Rose had been shot.

The first thing I noticed when I entered is that all signs of her blood had, thankfully, been washed away.

The second was that the room was almost full with people; a mixture of Moroi and guardians.

I approached the Council silently and confidently and stopped at a reasonable distance away; close enough that I was being respectable, but far enough that they felt comfortable.

"The Council have decided, after much deliberation," one of them announced. "That you are of no harm to others around you. Your Strigoi days are truly behind you. The Council offers their sincerest apologies to both you and Guardian Hathaway, who we are also granting her guardian title back to and will resume her duty as Queen Dragomir's personal guardian. It has been decided that you will be assigned to Christian Ozera and you will resume your duty as soon as possible. Guardian Hathaway will return as soon as she has recovered. That is all."

I nodded my gratitude and in acknowledgement of my dismissal. I walked away from them without a word. That had been a lot to take it.

But things we finally looking up.


	27. Chapter 27

**Here we go, second last chapter! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 27**

For the next couple of days, Lissa and I took turns watching over Rose. Rose had been moved from her ward into the royal guest housing. Each room was bigger than any apartment I had ever seen.

She was now no longer attached to a heart monitor or any other machine except for a drip, which was how they were keeping her nourished. Her stitches were still in and wouldn't be removed for another few days.

While Lissa was with her this morning, I had showered and changed, feeling as fresh and new as ever. When I returned, Lissa had to leave to sort some things out before the coronation.

So now, I was walking around the fancy bedroom, all the while keeping a watchful eye on Rose's sleeping form. I moved to sit in the big, comfy armchair by her bedside.

I watched her carefully and felt my breath hold in my throat as she sighed loudly and stirred.

There were no were words to describe the happiness I was feeling when she opened her beautiful eyes.

"Sleeping beauty awakens." I said.

A smile spread across her face and I felt my breath catch once again at her beauty. "Are you my nurse?"

I stood up from my chair and walked over to her, wanting to be closer. I smiled back at her, feeling content. She began attempting to push herself up on her elbows.

"No, no, you need to lie down," I scolded her, not harshly though. I got the feeling that if she asked me for anything right now then I would grant it to her.

"Then come closer," she told me. "I want to see you."

I couldn't resist not being close to her after everything. I figured it would be okay as long as I was careful. I kicked off my shoes and then landed haphazardly on the ground by the bed. I pulled the covers back a little and climbed in beside her.

It was a double bed so there was plenty of room, but we both stayed curled up closely on one side, our heads resting inches apart.

"Is this better?" I asked her.

"Much." She answered and gave me a breath taking smile.

I lifted my hand and stroked some of the hair that was resting on her cheek. "How are you?"

"Hungry." She answered right away, making me laugh.

I wanted to pull her close to my body in a tight embrace but had to remind myself to be careful with her. Instead, I moved my arm down so that it was resting ever so gently around her lower back.

"Of course you are," I told her. "I think they've only managed to get broth into you so far. Well, that and IV fluids early on. You're probably in sugar withdrawal."

Her face scrunched up at the mention of the IV fluids, no doubt at the idea of having needles stuck in her arm. Let's just say that we were lucky that she was unconscious when they were they.

"How long have I been out?" she asked me.

"A few days."

"A few days…" she repeated and she shivered, goose bumps showing up on her skin. I pulled the covers right up to make sure she was warm.

"I shouldn't be alive," she said in a whisper. Her hand raised itself on its own accord and rested on her wound on her chest. "Oh Lord." She said suddenly. "Lissa healed me, didn't she?"

"No, she didn't heal you." I told her.

"No?" she questioned. "Then…Adrian? He'd never…after how I treated him…no. He couldn't have…"

"What, you think he'd let you die?" I asked her surprised she had come to that conclusion. She didn't answer.

"No matter how he feels…" I paused and studied her face, making sure I wasn't crossing a line with her. I knew Adrian was a touchy subject, especially after what we had done. "Well, he wouldn't have let you die. He wanted to heal you. But he didn't either."

"Then who?" she asked me. "Sonya?"

"No one," I told her. "Well, you, I suppose."

"I…what?" she asked in shock.

"People can heal without magic now and then, Rose." I joked. "And your wounds…they were bad. No one thought you'd survive. You went into surgery, and then we all just waited."

"But why…why didn't Adrian or Lissa heal me?" she asked me, almost sheepishly.

"Oh, they wanted to, believe me. But in the aftermath, in the chaos…the Court went under lockdown. They were both taken away and put under heavy protection before they could act. No one would let them near you, not when they still thought you might be a murderer. They had to be certain about Tasha first, even though her own actions were pretty damning."

"Is Tasha…" she paused, looking reluctantly to say what she was about to say. "still alive?"

I felt my good mood lessen ever so slightly. "Yes." I answered her. It pained me that one of my friends had done this. "They caught her right after she shot you – before anyone else got hurt. She's detained, and more evidence has been coming in."

"Calling her out was one of the hardest things I've ever done," she said quietly. "Fighting Strigoi was easier than that."

"I know. It was hard for me to see, hard for me to believe. But she made her choices, and all the charges against you have been dropped. You're a free woman now. More than that. A hero. Abe's been bragging that it's all his doing."

That smile from earlier reappeared on her face, instantly relighting my own mood. "Of course he is. I'll probably get a bill from him soon."

I laughed, realising that maybe Rose didn't hate her father as much as she let on she did. After all, she was just as much like him as she was like her mother.

"So what now?" she asked me after a moment of silence.

"I'm not sure," I answered her. I lifted my hand to her face to check for a fever. Her forehead was warm, but not hot. "I'm just so glad…so glad you're alive. I've been so close to losing you so many times. When I saw you on the floor, and there was so much commotion and confusion…I felt so helpless. I realised you were right. We waste our lives with guilt and self-loathing. When you looked at me there at the end…I saw it. You did love me."

"You doubted?" she asked me, suddenly sounding a little offended.

"No." I quickly reassured her. "I mean, I knew then that you didn't just love me. I realised you really had forgiven me."

"There was nothing to forgive, not really." she told me, not for the first time. It was the first time I really listened though.

"I've always believed there was." I told her. "And that's what was holding me back. No matter what you said, I just couldn't believe it…couldn't believe you would forgive all the things I did to you in Siberia and after Lissa healed me. I thought you were deluding yourself."

"Well. It wouldn't be the first time I've done that," she joked. "But no, this time I wasn't."

"I know, and with that revelation…in the split second that I knew you forgave me and that I really had your love, I was finally able to forgive myself too. All those burdens, those ties to the past…they went away. It was like…" I was lost for words.

"Being free? Flying?" she suggested.

"Yes." I confirmed. "Except…it came too late. This sounds crazy, but while I was looking down at you, having all these thoughts coming together in my head, it was like…like I could see death's hand reaching for you. And there was nothing I could do. I was powerless. I couldn't help." I told her, feeling the distant ache in my heart.

"You did," she told me quietly. "The last things I saw before blacking out were you and Lissa. I don't know how I survived getting shot, how I beat the odds…but I'm pretty sure your love – both of you – gave me the strength to fight through. I had to get back to you guys. God only knows what trouble you'd get into without me."

Her words were sweet, yet powerful…and they warmed me.

I leaned into her perfect lips and kissed them gently. She returned the pressure lightly but after a couple of minutes, the kisses got more intense and urgent. I pulled away quickly, having to remind myself once again that she was in a fragile state.

"Hey, what gives?" she asked me, pouting a little.

"You're still recovering," I chastised, more myself than her. "You might thing you're back to normal, but you aren't."

"This is normal for me," she tried to convince me to kiss her again. "And you know, I thought with all this freedom and self-discovery and expression of our love stuff that we could finally stop with the whole Zen master wisdom and practical advice crap." She said grumpily.

I grinned at her. "Roza, that's not going to happen. Take it or leave it."

She leaned towards me and kissed me; not like before. It was more like a soft peck. "If it means getting you, I'll take it."

"Dimitri…for real, what happens to us?" she asked me carefully.

"Life." I said simply. "It goes on. We go on. We're guardians. We protect and maybe change our world."

"No pressure," she said sarcastically. "But what's the 'we' and 'guardians' part? I was pretty sure we were out of that career path."

"Mmm." I placed her face in between my palms, rubbing my thumbs against her cheeks. "Along with our pardons, we received our guardian status again." I told her happily.

"Even you?" she exclaimed. "They believe you're not a Strigoi?"

I nodded in response.

"Huh. Even if I got my name cleared, my ideal future was that we'd get filing jobs near each other." She said thoughtfully. I leaned right in close to her, dying to tell her the next part.

"It gets better: you're Lissa's guardian."

"What?" She said loudly in shock. "That's impossible. They'd never…"

"They did." I told her, saving her from finishing her sentence. "She'll have others, so they probably figured it was okay to let you hang around if someone else could keep you in line." I teased her.

"You're not…" she started and looked nervous. "You're not one of her guardians too, are you?"

"No," I told her. "I have a different assignment."

"Oh." Was all she said. I could see sadness in her face.

"I'm Christian's guardian."

Rose shot up in a sitting position. I grimaced ever so slightly, wondering how it didn't hurt her.

From the look on her face, it did.

"But that's…that's practically the same thing!" she exclaimed.

I copied her and sat up, smirking at her shocked state. "A little. But they won't be together every moment, especially with her going to Lehigh. He's not going…but they'll keep coming back to each other. And when they do, so will we. It's a good mix. Besides…I think you've proved to everyone that you're willing to put her life first."

Rose shook her head in denial. "Yeah, but no one was shooting at you. Only her."

Her eyes turned to me and scrutinised me. "You followed when I jumped in front of Lissa, didn't you? Who were you going for? Me or her?"

Ah. The question that had kept popping up in my head.

"I don't know, Roza. I don't know."

She sighed and looked around the room. "This isn't going to be easy."

"It never is," I reminded her and couldn't resist pulling her into my arms. She snuggled close to my chest and breathed deeply. I tightened my arms and rested my face near her hair.

After a while, there was a quiet knock at the door, and Lissa entered, interrupting our sweet moment.

"Sorry," she apologised, although not looking very sorry. "Should have put a sock on the door. Didn't realise things were getting hot and heavy."

Before I could say anything, Rose piped up.

"No avoiding it," she said and squeezed my hand. "Things are always hot with him around."

I felt my cheeks redden ever so slightly in embarrassment. I should have expected nothing less from Rose when it came to talking about our sex life with Lissa – that's what girls did, right? I just never imagined I'd be in the same room.

Rose laughed loudly and kissed my cheek as Lissa grinned at us.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," she said happily. "Now that everything's out in the open."

"Yeah," I said. "I got a pretty 'fun' look from your father the other day." I shuddered, remembering the glare from Abe Mazur.

I knew Lissa would want to talk to Rose about everything else that had happened so I thought it best I leave. "I should go and let you two talk."

I got up out of the bed and slipped my shoes back on.

"Will you be back?" Rose asked me as I reached the door.

"Of course," I told her, feeling my heart swell up with the love I had for her.

I shut the door gently behind me and went for a walk around Court to revel in my happiness.

**AN: Please review, they make me happy :)**


	28. Chapter 28

**It's a sad, and momentous occasion for us all: the last chapter is finished :( I won't go on and on, but what I do want to say is: Enjoy! I'll be uploading an A/N afterwards so talk to you guys then :)**

**Chapter 28**

I wasn't officially back at work yet, though I was surprised by the large amount of people who accepted my newly reinstated guardian title so quickly. I was greeted with the respect I had gained during the years before I had been turned, which surprised me even more. It just showed you how much the Moroi were influenced by what the Council had to say.

Rose was healing more and more each day. She was gradually getting stronger and stronger, especially when walking. Yesterday, she wanted to help Lissa with something but had been a little unsteady on her feet so they decided it was best to leave it until today.

It worried me to think that she was walking about the place so soon after going through what she had been through, especially as I wasn't with her to protect her. She had promised me that she'd go back to the room straight afterward to rest and I would meet her there.

After another hour of strolling around the busy grounds of Court, I realised Rose should have been back. I walked slowly back to the room we were staying in and turned the door knob gently.

She was sat up bed, her arms hugging her knees.

"Hey," she said softly as I shut the door behind me and walked over to her.

"Hey," I kissed her forehead lightly. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," she answered wearily.

I pulled off my coat and my shoes and climbed in the other side of the bed. I lay down and she moved herself so that she was close enough to be embraced. I wrapped my arms around her body and held her close. I inhaled the sweet scent of her hair. I didn't think I'd ever get enough of her.

Before I realised what she was doing, she was sucking and kissing on my neck.

"Roza…" I warned her, knowing that if she went any further, I wouldn't be able to stop.

"Yes?" she murmured against my skin.

"We shouldn't…" I tried to convince her…and myself. "Doctor's orders."

"When have I ever done anything I'm told?" She lifted herself so she was above me and straddled my waist.

I could feel my control snapping.

"Plus, you know you can't resist me." she winked at me.

That was it.

My control snapped.

When we were finished, I cradled her close to me.

"I love you, you know." I said, kissing her temple.

"Hmm…" she sighed loudly, but contently, her eyes beginning to shut.

"Sleep, Roza." I whispered into her ear and held her while her eyes closed completely and she drifted off to sleep.

I didn't stay up long after that. It felt amazing to just be able to relax for once and just be with Rose; holding her and loving her.

I woke early the next morning. It was the first proper full night sleep I had gotten since before I could remember.

Looking down at the gorgeous woman in my arms, I reminded myself just how lucky I was.

Being a dhampir, the most I ever expected to get out of life was my dignity, dying the way most, if not all, guardians did.

Love was never an option, because there were very few dhampirs who found it. Especially not guardians.

But I had.

And I would spend every waking minute doing anything for my Roza, for giving me what I thought I would never get…and it was the most amazing gift I could ever have gotten.

Her love.

She looked so peaceful and so vulnerable in my arms: so different to how she usually looked to everyone else.

Suddenly, a stroke of sunlight shone through the parting in the thick curtains, placing a golden effect on everything its light hit.

I watched it in admiration and awe. God, I had missed the sun.

I stretched my hand out and felt its warmth on my bare skin. I turned my palm back and forth, studying it and basking in it.

"How long have you been awake?" her sleep coated voice asked me.

"A little while," I told her. I looked back to the light shining through. "I think I'm still on a human schedule. Either that, or my body just wants to be up when the sun is. Seeing it is still amazing to me."

"You should have gotten up," she said.

"I didn't want to disturb you."

She trailed her amazing fingers across my chest, sending tingles through me. She sighed happily, sending her warmth breath across my skin.

"This is perfection," she said. "Is every day going to be like this."

Perfection.

That one word summed up everything I was feeling this morning.

I tilted her head up, needing to look into the brown eyes that I loved so much.

"Not every day but most days." I answered her. If every day was going to be like this one, I would die a happy man.

I leaned in towards her, just as she did towards me. Our lips met and I felt all of those tingles come back and then some. We broke the kiss after a few minutes.

"I was wrong," she said against my lips. "This is perfection."

I smiled broadly at her, glad that she was feeling as happy as I was.

As I watched her, her eyes became distant and her soft smile slowly dropped into a frown.

"What's the matter?" I asked her.

She tried unsuccessfully to drop the frown.

"Do you think I ruin lives?" she asked me suddenly. Shock coursed through me.

"What? Of course not." I told her. "Where would you get that idea?"

She shrugged a little, acting as though it didn't bother her too much but I could see through her charade.

"There are just a lot of people whose lives are still kind of a mess. My friends, I mean." She explained.

"True." I said to her honestly. "And let me guess. You want to fix everyone's problems."

She was silent, confirming my guess.

I kissed her lips once again. "Roza, it's normal to want to help the people you love. But you can't fix everything."

"It's what I do," she admitted. "I protect people."

"I know, and that's one of the reasons I love you. But for now, you only have to worry about protecting one person: Lissa."

She stretched against me, making me hold her tighter. I caught a glimpse of her wound. Her stitches had been removed the day before, as had her bandages, but there was still a fairly angry red mark on her chest. She had been told that the mark would fade but would more than likely never disappear. She hadn't been too happy, but I assured her it didn't matter to me, and I would love her, scar or no scar.

"I suppose that means we can't stay in bed all day?" she asked me, cute hopefulness in her voice.

"Afraid not," I answered her. It was probably the only morning I had ever woke up and hated going to work.

I ran one of my hands from her waist to her hip, feeling the softness of her skin. "They come first."

Rose lifted herself up and kissed me again.

"But not for a little while." She murmured.

"No," I replied, pulling her closer to me. "Not for a little while."

We were surprisingly on time for the ceremony taking place today.

There was a short vigil and then a massive procession leading from the church to the palace building where the actual crowning was taking place. I was on duty for extra protection. Court was buzzing with people from all over the place, coming to see Lissa be crowned.

I don't think I've ever been quite as proud of Rose as I was when I watched her walking with Lissa and the rest of the Royal Guard. I would, however, be lying if I said that I wasn't a little apprehensive about having her out of bed so soon. This was Rose though. She could handle it…not to mention the fact that she'd never agree to being holed up in bed while possibly the most important day of her best friend's life was taking place.

Guardians lined the walls of the palace building, me among them, while we waited for Lissa and her guardians to enter. Musician's played. People cheered.

All in all, the atmosphere was quite uplifting, despite recent events.

The Royal Guard entered the room, causing heads to turn. Each of them made their own way to join the guardians lined at the walls.

I watched Rose's face as she studied the people in the room around her. It mainly consisted of the Council, some Royal families and some people that Lissa had specified to be here: myself included.

Rose's gaze moved upwards to the lighting, studying the chandeliers absentmindedly.

I watched as her parents approached her and her father gently nudged her shoulder.

Rose turned and looked to who was trying to get her attention. She said something and conversation between the three of them broke out.

After a few minutes, I decided to join them. I hadn't spoken with them properly over the last few days; I had been too worried and scared about whether Rose would be okay.

On my way over, my footsteps sounded louder than normal, and my palms felt like they were sweating. I didn't quite understand why I was so nervous about talking to them. It wasn't like I hadn't spoken to them before…then again, I wasn't involved with their daughter…that they knew of.

As I reached them, I deliberately didn't touch Rose.

"Mr. Mazur," I greeted her father and nodded my head to both him and her mother. "Guardian Hathaway."

"Ah, Belikov," Abe replied and shook my hand. "I'd been hoping we'd run into each other. I'd really like to get to know you better. Maybe you can set aside some time to talk, learn more about life, love, et cetera. Do you like to hunt? You seem like a hunting man. That's what we should do sometime. I know a great spot in the woods. Far, far away. We could make a day of it. I've certainly got a lot of questions I'd like to ask you. A lot of things I'd like to tell you too."

I resisted the urge to gulp.

I saw Rose shoot a look at her mother.

"Actually," Janine said. "I'd like to come along. I also have a number of questions – especially about when you two were back at St. Vladimir's."

"Don't you guys have somewhere to be?" Rose cut in quickly. "We're about to start."

Looking up, I realised that we were about to begin, saving me from the, albeit scary, conversation.  
"Of course," Abe replied. He leaned in and kissed his daughter's forehead, leaving her looking quite stunned. "I'm glad you're back."

He turned and winked at me. "Looking forward to our chat." I reminded myself of why I was going to put myself through, what would no doubt be, a frightening chat. Rose was more than worth it.

And just like that, my fears went away.

Abe and Janine both left to stand in their places.

"Run," Rose spun around and said to me as soon as they were out of earshot. "If you slip out now, maybe they won't notice. Go back to Siberia."

"Actually," I corrected her. "I'm pretty sure Abe would notice." The man had eyes like a hawk. "Don't worry, Roza. I'm not afraid. I'll take whatever heat they give me over being with you. It's worth it."

"You really are the bravest man I know," she replied, almost comically.

I gave her smile and then noticed people getting excited behind her.

"Looks like she's ready," I murmured to Rose.

"I hope I am." She whispered back to me. I wanted to hold her hand. To squeeze it and reassure her that everything was going to be okay now. But of course, guardian protocol would not allow it, and I had to keep my hands to myself as Lissa entered.

The small room fell silent as Lissa walked in. It wasn't anything that she did, it was just something that naturally happened when she entered a room.

The herald stepped forward. "Princess Vasilisa Sabina Rhea Dragomir," he introduced grandly.

Lissa stepped forward, wearing a beautiful dress and leaving everyone awestruck. Christian, my new charge, was escorting her. The look on his face showed exactly everything he felt for Lissa and more. His pride and love were the most evident.

They reached the base of the throne where Ekaterina was waiting patiently. She gestured to the satin cushion on the floor in front of her. "Kneel."

Lissa obeyed and knelt down carefully. Everyone listened as Ekaterina read out pieces from the coronation book.

When she was finished, Ekaterina gestured for Jill to come forward, which she did with the crown. Reaching up on her tip toes, she placed the embedded crown delicately on Lissa's head.

"Rise," Ekaterina instructed Lissa, her voice ringing out in the silent room. "You will never kneel to anyone again." She took Lissa's hand and they both faced the small crowd in the room. "Queen Vasilisa Sabina Rhea Dragomir, first of her name," She declared.

On cue, we dropped to our knees in front of Lissa and bowed our heads.

"Rise," Lissa said after only a couple of seconds. Ekaterina then led Lissa around a decorated table to sign some papers and make it official.

Afterwards, Lissa made her way to the throne and sat proudly with her head held high. I applauded with Rose and the rest of the room as Lissa was officially declared Queen.

Lissa smiled brightly at the applauding audience and I saw her make eye contact with Rose. In response, Rose grinned back at her.

"What's so funny?" I asked her, loving the way her eyes shone when she was happy.

"I'm just thinking about what Lissa would say if we still had the bond," she told her.

Looking at her happy face, I decided to abandon the guardian protocol that had been drilled into me since I was young. We had been through too much to let silly things like what people thought of us to get in the way. I grabbed her warm hand and pulled her to me. I wrapped her up in my arms.

"And?"

"I think she'd ask, 'What have we gotten ourselves into?'" she replied.

"What's the answer?" I asked her, her pure happiness seeping into me, making me feel warm.

"I don't know," she replied, leaning her whole body against me, causing my arms to wrap tighter around her on instinct. "But I think it's going to be good."


	29. Author's Note

**So guys, that's my final chapter! Last Sacrifice in Dimitri's POV is officially complete. **

**Just so you know, I am in the process of writing another story called Bloodlines from Rose's POV. The first couple of chapters are already posted so feel free to take a look. The last chapter that I posted in it explains how I have decided to take a break from writing it but I plan to continue it ****very**** soon – with changes. I am now going to be writing it from both Rose **_**and **_**Dimitri's POV. I don't know about you guys, but I was having some serious RoseXDimitri withdrawal while reading Bloodlines and The Golden Lily! Lol**

**If you finish reading what I have written so far, I have two other stories that will keep you busy! :D **

**-Hook, Line and Sinker, as well as It's a Tough World Out There.**

**Anyway, thank you guys so so much for reading and reviewing! You really have no idea how much it means to me :) Thank you for sticking with me and I hope that I'll hear from you in the future :)**

**-Laurie (a.k.a. .Reader)**


	30. Please Read

Hey, just a quick question…

What do you guys think about me writing Homecoming (in Foretold) from Dimitri's Point of View? Its something I've been thinking about – let me know what you think! :)


	31. Final Post

I've posted the first instalment of Homecoming (in Foretold) from DPOV. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

And thank you for the few people who reviewed and told me to give it a shot! :D


	32. Read Please

Hey, sorry guys, not an update but please read.

Here's the story,

There's a little girl that lives fairly close to me who has a rare disease called neuroblastoma.

Recently, a whole group of people got together and recorded a song for her. Their goal is to get this song to number 1 in our charts so that little Lily Mae can get the treatment she needs.

I just want to ask anybody if they can, they song is available on iTunes so please try and support.

If you can't buy it, have a look on youtube and spread the word.

The song is called "Tiny Dancer by A Song For Lily Mae."

Please look it up. She's a four year old baby girl in desperate need of help.

Love you guys and thanks for support :)


	33. MAJORLY IMPORTANT

**MAJORLY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

It has recently been brought to my attention that all fanfics containing lemons/M rated stuff will be deleted from this site as of June 4th – meaning that the majority of my stuff could very well disappear.

Now I've heard so many things and I would appreciate if anybody could tell me what is really happening? Is it true that after the accused stories have been removed, the account of the author will also be destroyed?

If this is indeed true, and my account is removed, fear not! :P I have created a second account where I will re-post my stories when I had "fixed" them.

My other pen name is Roza-Dimka-Reader2

I will only repost my stories if they are removed :)

Thank you for reading and supporting me right from the very start of my time here on fanfiction :)


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